


The run of Penny Parker

by YumiHoshiko



Series: Love is glass [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, Family Drama, Family Issues, Father-Daughter Relationship, Female Peter Parker, Genius Peter Parker, Hurt Peter Parker, No beta we die like dehydrated worms, Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, Sibling Bonding, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trigger warning for suicide, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 111,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumiHoshiko/pseuds/YumiHoshiko
Summary: Return to a world where everyones seem to have move on, Penny doesn't knows how to adapt. No one seem to need her, five years and she feels like she has already lost her family. So, what should she do?She doesn't know.So, she runs.Or the story of how Penny Parker lost her family and her journey back home.WARNING: English isn't my mother tongue.
Relationships: Karen (Spider-Man: Homecoming) & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Love is glass [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626226
Comments: 655
Kudos: 1396





	1. Prologue

Penny Parker seems to always has the worst luck.

She woke up scared and confused on a alien planet with the people she barely knew. All she remembered was herself dying in her father figure's embrace, watching her body turned to ashes, slowly, painfully, after fighting with a purple alien. The next thing she knew, she was thrusted into another battle, not really believed she has gone for five years.

And the next thing was watching helplessly from afar when Mr.Stark snapped his fingers and almost died.

The next thing, she was waiting in a hospital in front of Mr.Stark's operation room.

The next thing, May came and Penny found out the woman had became Mrs.Hogan. She couldn't come back to her old apartment, where once was Ben's, was May's, was hers.

The next thing, she learned about Ned and MJ have became adults and barely talked to her through her phone calls.

The next thing was Morgan Stark, Tony Stark's true daughter, by flesh and blood.

The next thing,...

The next thing,...

Too many the next thing. Penny felt like she was spinning. Everything was too much, too fast to catch up on and she fell behind.

That was the first strike.

When she was having dinner with the other, they talked and she stayed silent. Mr. Stark has a lake house? There is Frozen 2 already? Mr.Stark had to wear a fake, ugly, red deerhorn and take a selfie with his alpaca because his daughter insisted?... Or when she first saw her guest room in Happy's house since apparently he had became her uncle. Or when she saw Mr. Stark kissed Morgan's cheeks and smiled so, so, so softly...

That was the second strike.

And she lose it.

Pathetic Puni Parker finally lost what she believed to be her family. She got nothing left.

No one could survive that pain. The last person of the Parker family ran and Penny Parker died.

And then Morgan, bless her angelic soul, came and save the day.


	2. Came back

Penny didn’t understand. She couldn’t.

She couldn’t understand why she was there, in the guest room of Happy’s apartment. Everything was clean, almost too clean, and new. She was wearing a red hoodie, a pair of grey sweatpants and Iron man socks, all new.

She didn’t feel like it, not even a bit.

She wanted to go home, to her small, messy but cozy bedroom. She wanted to wear her faded science pun t-shirt, her jeans and her old socks. Not this.

But apparently she couldn’t go home anymore, to her old apartment where she once shared wonderful memories of her childhood when she still has Ben. Because May had sold the apartment, had married with Happy. She had moved on.

Small knocks on her, well, Happy told her that the room belong to her now, bedroom door made Penny almost jump in surprise. She slowly moved to the door and open it, it was Happy. He gave her a new towel, toothbrush and toothpaste and Penny took them.

“The room doesn’t have these stuff so I bring you this. Just picked them up from the store.” He gently told her and she nodded, mumbled a small thanks “If you need anything you ask me or May, ok?”

“Okay.”

“Okay then, goodnight Penny.” The man nodded and turned away.

“Goodnight.” The teenager said and closed the door. She let herself sat on the floor, back against the white wall and curled herself into a ball. She stayed like that for the rest of the night, didn’t sleep even a bit.

The next morning, the harsh reality dawn even further.

She stepped into the living room after she heard May’s voice. Her whole body ached since it had remained in the same position for too long and she felt drained. She didn’t sleep and with everything happen yesterday, she really need to lay down. But Penny knew it would be useless, even right then, when there wasn’t any energy left in her body, her mind still raced with thoughts and it wouldn’t shut up just because Penny need rest.

“Ah, good morning Penny.” May looked up from her shoes which she was tying and smiled at her. Penny smiled back.

“Good morning.”

“You had a good rest, sweetie?”

“Uh, yeah. Quite good.” She shrugged. May opened her mouth to say something else but was stopped by Happy entering the room. He stepped forward to May and planted a soft kiss on her cheek before saying “Good morning honey.”

Penny tried not to flinch. She knew Happy was her aunt’s husband now and the man had always been a good person despite being grumpy, but that didn’t stop the uncomfortable feeling crept up in her stomach.

“You have an early shift today?” The man asked her aunt and May replied “Yeah. Almost forget it, though.”

Did May still work at the hospital? Penny wondered but before she could think about the topic more, Happy asked her.

“Good morning, Penny. Do you have a good sleep?”

“Good morning. I slept pretty well.” She lied.

The man nodded “Good to know. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Wha…?”

Happy rolled his eyes at her shocked face “I asked what do you want for breakfast, and before you ask, yes, I can cook.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment and then a thought popped up in her mind. _You must try to look fine. You mustn’t make your aunt worry, she got a new life now. Don’t mess it up._

“Penny?”

“Uh sorry. I’m just a little shocked. But that make sense though, the fact that you can cook. May’s cooking techniques are horrible, explain why you two still survive this long,”

That earned her a loud laugh from Happy and a shout from May “Hey!”

“What? That’s true. We barely survive just because of take out.”

“I…I can make meatloaf.”

“You nearly poisoned me.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay. That’s enough.” Happy cut their banter off, a hand wiped tears from laughing too hard “Now, back to the main topic. What do you want for breakfast? Bacon, omelette, waffles... What do you like?”

“Um, omelette please. And what about May? She won’t have breakfast at home?”

May smiled at her “I will only take some coffee, honey. I can pick up some breakfast on the way to the shelter.”

“Shelter?”

“Yeah, I forget you don’t know but I work for the government’s shelter program now.”

Penny let out a small “oh” and sit down on the chair in front of the kitchen counter. Soon, Happy lent her a plate with delicious omelette on it and May joined her with a cup of coffee of her own. The breakfast started in silence until Happy broke it.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Today we will have dinner at the Tower at 6. Think you can make it?”

The question was directed at May and said woman nodded.

“Sure, I am clear after five anyway. Were going to ask Penny to go shopping with me though. She needs some new clothes.”

At that, Penny perked up. Right, clothes. That’s a problem too. She only having what she’s wearing for normal clothes, nothing more.

“No problem. Pepper keeps a bunch of clothes that fit with Penny. I’m sure she will lend us some. It will help for the mean time, at least until you can take Penny to go shopping.”

Hearing this, Penny squinted her eyes at Happy in confusion but the man just shrugged and said,

“Long story, kid.”

She felt like she was slapped. Of course it would be a long story. Five years is a long story and she had missed too much. She wondered if she would ever be filled in about the five years she had lost? The five years she could never get back?

Unfortunately for Penny, she would have to hear the “long story” word for many times in the following days.

After breakfast, May and Happy left. Penny decided to call her best friend, Ned. She knew everyone, excluding who work for the government, especially the shelter program like May, were given some few days off.

After three rings, a voice came through the phone.

“Hello? This is Edward Leeds.”

Thank God, it’s her friend.

“Ned? It’s Penny.”

A small pause and then “Penny? You come back from the snap too.”

Penny almost flinched at the tone in Ned’s voice. It sounds…it’s almost like he didn’t care. There is so much difference from the tone that Ned used with her. The boy that she called her best friend always worried about her, he never used this tone to her. Until now.

She swallowed and answered “Yeah. I came back too.”

“That’s nice.” It that tone again. Gosh, she hated it. “It’s good to know that you come back too. Are you staying with your aunt?”

Penny tried to not let her voice cracked “Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Okay, that’s nice.” A pause then “Listen, I’m in California, okay? I need to finish these stuff so I can come back to New York as soon as possible, my mom just came back too. I really don’t have time for this. I’m glad that you come back and all but I’m really busy. We will meet up someday in the future, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Bye Penny.”

And then there was nothing but a heavy silence. Penny slid down from the wall she was leaning on, she didn’t even notice since when she couldn’t stand on her own feet. Penny let out small, chocked sobs.

Ned’s tone…and his nonchalance made Penny felt sick. The boy, no, the man she just talked on the phone, wasn’t her best friend. Wasn’t the person she had knew from she was eight. He was so different.

He changed. Too much.

But Penny couldn’t blame him. It had been five years. It was a long time for anyone to change. Ned wasn’t an exception. Hell, even May did. And that everything worse.

Ned said that he was in California, was it because of college? Ned had wanted to go to Cal tech. With his ability, there is no doubt that he would get in.

Her mind raced with thoughts and unknown questions. And Penny kept crying. For how long, she didn’t know. She just knew that her sleeves were soaked with tears when she could finally calm down and stood up to find some water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I want this to be like some kind of New Year Eve present. My country's main celebration for New Year is still a month away so I'm pretty free for now.  
> I hope you will enjoy this chapter and I wish you all many good lucks for the 2020 year.  
> I will update as soon as possible and like always, comments and kudos are appriciated.


	3. Stranger

Penny was restless, her whole body demanded a good amount of sleep and honestly she wanted to comply too. But she just couldn’t. It would be a little weird if you really think about it. She got a nice, warm and soft bed, plus the whole quiet apartment for herself. Furthermore, she was so fucking tired and her eyelids continue to drift shut. She just couldn’t.

Instead of trying to get some rest, Penny chose to curled up into a ball on the sofa in the living room and surf the internet. She found herself wandered into some old group chat on her phone. They are called ‘old’ because she hadn’t got into them for five years long. By doing that, she found out who had been snapped and who didn’t. Apparently, Flash was also snapped, which mean if she came back to Midtown High, she would have to face him alone, without any backup. Before, her backup was Ned and sometimes even MJ, but now…

Penny couldn’t bring herself to call MJ, not right then, no. Maybe she would think about that again after coming back from dinner. She scared that the last person she could called as best friend also left her, just like Ned. Penny knew that it might break her heart and she couldn’t deal with that right now, when Mr. Stark was still in coma.

The previous night was harsh on Penny. She spent almost half a day in the Medbay, in front of her mentor’s emergency room, waited for any kind of news. She even prepared for the worst scenario.

Ms. Potts, no, Mrs. Stark… Pepper, Pepper had been in the waiting room with her almost the entire time. She was the one who had gave Penny some clothes to change, told her to take a bath and to take care of some bruises and cuts she received from the battle. The woman practically made her eat half of an entire pizza and drink some orange juice. She had forced Penny to go with May and Happy, with a promise to tell her immediately if there is any new related to Mr. Stark’s condition.

Penny had forcefully agreed, not really believe her. She wanted to be there, even if her mentor may not make it, but Penny knew that she was useless in this case. She couldn’t help with anything. Not with this.

Penny turned on the TV, which Happy had told her before he left that she was allowed to use any kind of electronic devices as long as she remember to feed herself lunch. She watched some videos on Youtube which actually helped her to know more about what had happened to the world during the time she was still snapped. Some of the video were actually really interesting but Penny found herself only put half of her attention to it. Her mind kept wandering back to all the thing that she was facing, from her mentor’s condition to the changes that she knew she need to adapt.

She had almost forgot the time if not because of May’s phone call.

“Hey, Penny.” The woman greeted her through the phone. “What are you doing? Watching TV? Have you eaten lunch yet?”

Penny turned her head to look at the clock and let out a small wince. It was almost one thirty.

“Uh, I forgot the time I guess. I’m sorry. I’m going to eat now.”

“Penny, you know you have to eat.” Her aunt said disapprovingly. “You better eat right now. There is some leftover chicken in the fridge. You could eat it with some mac and cheese. Find those in the cabinet beside the fridge. I remember putting it there last Sunday.”

“Okay, May. I will do it right now.” She stood up, went to the cabinet to find the mac and cheese which she quickly spotted a few boxes of it.

“Good. Oh, and I think you should look up some clothes that you may like on the internet. It would help us to know exactly what we want to buy when we go shopping for your clothes.”

“Okay.” Penny replied, didn’t really care about it.

“I will see you tonight, honey. I need to get back to work. Bye Penny.”

“Bye May.”

And with that, the call ended. Penny started to make lunch for herself. Ben and her had always been a much better cook than May, but her aunt always insisted to be the one who make meals for the two of them since Ben died. The teenager girl knew it was how May tried to cover the space that her uncle had left behind so she never said anything, even when the foods weren’t tasty at all. Happy’s kitchen was so different from her apartment, old apartment’s kitchen. It was so much more modern and seem to be always filled with foods and drinks. Penny remembered how May and her had struggled to have enough nutrition, especially with Penny’s metabolism. It was nice to know that May finally had the life that she deserved. 

It was a painful reminder for what Penny had lost in the five-year gap.

After lunch, the teenager girl resumed the previous activity, she watched TV until she dozed off for about an hour, only awake because her aunt called and told her that she and Happy were coming home. They would soon pick Penny up to go to Stark tower for dinner.

At the mention of the tower, Penny’s mind immediately wandered to the image of her father figure laying emotionless on the white bed sheet. But she pushed it aside and went splat some water to her face, tied her messy hair and waited for May and Happy.

The two came back not long after that. The ride to the tower wasn’t completely silent. May and Happy asked her about her day and then they chatted to each other about work. Penny felt awed at how the two interacted with each other, she never dreamed to see May like this since her uncle’s death nor Happy being talkative. She watched them and didn’t say anything if it not directed at her.

After Happy parked the car into Mr. Stark’s private garage, the three of them ride the elevator to the penthouse. The moment the elevator opened, Mrs. Stark went to greet them. She immediately pulled Penny to a tight hug, the blonde hair woman murmured softly into her hair.

“Hello, Penny. It’s good to see you.”

Penny felt herself tensed slightly but she ignored it and replied with a small “Hello, Mrs. Stark.”

The older female pulled back, brushed away some hair on Penny’s face and smiled gently.

“It’s Pepper, dear…The doctor said Tony is stable now.”

A wave of relief washed away the heavy feeling that had been inside Penny since yesterday. Her voice shaking and she finally managed to chocked out after a moment.

“Really? He is fine now? Can I come to see him?”

“Of course you can, Penny. But let’s wait a little more, alright? The doctor said that we should expect him to wake up in a couple weeks. He is still in a coma, with all the damage from the snap, it isn’t a real surprise.” The blonde haired woman stopped a bit before continue “They have to amputated his right arm, but, I don’t think it should be a problem, considering that princess Shuri offered to make him a new one with Wakanda’s technology.”

Penny’s mood dropped. She didn’t expect her father figure came out completely fine, but the news made she feel so sad and useless. She couldn’t do anything to help him.

What kind of hero was she to not be able to help someone so important to her like that?

Pepper cleared her throat, clapped her hands together and said.

“We should start dinner, it’s getting late.”

Everyone complied. After they had settled around the dining table, May asked.

“Where is Morgan? Won’t she join us?”

“No, she tired herself while trying to find out what happened with her dad that’s making me so worried. She is napping in her bedroom. I already got some foods inside her stomach anyway.”

“Who is Morgan?” Penny asked out of curious, a small part of her afraid of what she might find out.

Pepper smiled at her, there is something like light flashed in her eyes. Something full of adoration and love. And Penny knew immediately who was Morgan when she saw it.

“She is my daughter, mine and Tony’s.”

As her theory was confirmed, Penny felt like she was punched in the gut. Her mentor, who she had saw as someone like her own dad, had a daughter. A real daughter. By flesh and blood. In five years when she was gone.

She hated that she didn’t like the news. It was selfish and that wasn’t like her. Penny Parker never selfish, if anything, she was selfless. But here was she, already dislike the little girl that she hadn’t even met. She just couldn’t help it, she felt like she was replaced.

She hated herself when she was like that.

She curled her hands under the table, so tight that made it shake violently. Her nails dig into her hands that it hurt, but she ignored it. Penny was a really bad liar, but she could be a very good actress sometimes (which couldn’t really be considered as a good thing).

A bright smile appeared on her face and Penny said “Oh my god, really? That’s great. Can I meet her? How old is she?”

Heck, even her voice sound cheerful. No wonder none of the adults notice any difference in her mood. Pepper laughed at her enthusiasm.

“Yeah, well, I think we can make up a playdate for you two. Morgan is four. Do you want to see her pictures?”

Penny “happily” agreed. The moment the teenage girl saw Morgan’s picture, with her dad, she almost burst out crying.

The little girl was cute, very cute. And she was so much like her dad. She got his brown hair, his eyes, his nose. Penny’s heart clenched as she saw pictures of Tony and Morgan (Pepper really got many of it on her phone, which was to be expected). They were playing with each other and in some of it, it just some precious moment that Pepper managed to catch. Anyone would be blind if they couldn’t notice the love in every single picture of the two. Her mentor always smiled so gentle at Morgan, his eyes sparkling with adoration.

The pure and precious feeling comes from a father to his daughter that Penny had dreamt to have. And she had thought she really had it.

It seemed like her little fantasy had come to its end.

_You weren’t replaced. It has never been your place to have. Pathetic girl, dreams for something that would never be yours, even tried to lie to yourself. You are such a greedy person, and you call yourself a superhero?_

As the dinner carried on, Penny learned more about Tony’s life in five years when she wasn’t here. He had moved to live outside the city, far from the nosy people. He lived in a wooden house beside a lake, it was a quiet yet peaceful and lovely place to live.

Penny didn’t know what to think anymore. The Mr. Stark that she knew, that she had become familiar with, wasn’t like this. He liked the modern life and always wanted to throw the most luxury things in the world to those who he closed to. Never in her dream that one day the Tony Stark she knew would live in a small wooden house, far from the city, have an alpaca and a vegetable garden.

The foods tasted like ashes in Penny’s mouth. As Pepper and the others having their conversations, the girl didn’t say anything much, too busy trying to finish the food in her mouth and deal with her mind and feelings. They talked together like real family, sharing stories about precious memories, laughing and joking around with ease. Penny felt left out. She didn’t know what they were talking about, she felt like she was a stranger.

Like she didn’t belong here.

When they came back at Happy and May’s apartment, Penny went straight to her bedroom. After half an hour of hesitation, she finally called MJ. It ended as well as anyone could expected. The last friend Penny had, MJ, had left her too. A forced promise to meet again was all Penny need for confirmation.

Penny cried herself to sleep. Well, at least this time, she wasn’t restless anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, it's longer than the last chapter so that's a good thing, isn't it? It has more depression than I thought but it was a result from the moody state I was in the last time I fixed this chapter.  
> I want to update sooner but I just got back from the military camp, something related to our country's high school program. They didn't let us use wifi so I couldn't post this. Does your school have something similar to our military camp program?
> 
> Anyway, pls comment and let me know what you think. Kudos are also appreciated.


	4. He was okay.

They had asked Pepper for help about clothes for Penny. The woman had kindly given them many clothes, for teenager girl, much to Penny’s surprise. No, it wasn’t because Penny hold anything against her. In fact, Penny had always adored the older female since the first time they met, which meant before all the shit with Thanos. The girl was really grateful for the woman’s generosity, but it was hard for Penny to not question it.

Why does someone like Mister and Mrs. Stark keep clothes for teenage girl at the first place?

Penny had politely voiced her confusion to the woman only to receive a “It’s a long story” as an answer. Penny didn’t like that answer, at all. She noticed that when she asked about something happened in the five-year gap, most of the time, the adults would use that as an answer. It was like they didn’t want to tell her, like it was only their secret, something Penny didn’t have the right to know.

Like she didn’t belong with them anymore.

Before Penny even had a chance to realized, it was already more than 10 days. Her mentor hadn’t wake up yet, and she weren’t allowed to visit him. Everyone told her to wait until he come out of the coma and promised to updated if there was anything changed. Penny missed him, so much. She didn’t care that he still unconscious or apparently, her place in his heart wasn’t as important as she had thought before the snap. She didn’t care about that. Penny only wished to see him, still alive and breathing, and healing. To be sure that he wasn’t dead.

Like her uncle, and her biological parents.

It wasn’t logical, she knew that. Because everyone already told her that he was fine, he was going to wake up soon. But Penny needed to see it with her own eyes, that he was still breathing and his heart was still there. She knew her aunt and Happy visit him every day, she could smell the chloroform from their clothes with her heightened sense. And it was killing her to be the only one who was left out. Penny couldn’t stand the feeling from waiting for the two of them to come back and update her on his condition.

And then there was school. Apparently, every schools in America, or the world, let their students and teachers have a two-week holiday after the snap. It helped everyone involved, more time to spend with each other, buying clothes and stuff like that for who came back.

Penny wasn’t all that enthusiastic to come back to school. Without Ned or MJ, she was a real loner. She talked to the others too, but no one she was closed to. And then there was Flash. And many others potential bullies that she might have to face. Furthermore, Mr. Stark hadn’t wake up yet. So no, Penny wasn’t fond of the idea of coming back school, at all.

But May seem to believed that coming back would help her since it was part of her ‘old’ normal routine, and ‘education is important’ too. Only that wasn’t her normal routine, not without her friends, or the Stark internship that she used to spend time with her father figure in the lab. Not to mentioned that she already knew half of the thing that was supposed to be taught in college, which meant, high school, even with such advanced curriculum like in Midtown High, couldn’t offer her something useful anymore. That was the side effect of having a super genius mind.

Penny, trying to stop causing anymore troubles for her aunt and everyone else, didn’t show her dislike toward the idea. Instead, she acted like she was super happy to have something productive to do instead of staying at May and Happy’s apartment watching TV, surfing the Internet or wandering around New York for nothing. So far, Penny had done a good job at it, no one suspected anything.

The first day back school was far from the greatest day of Penny’s life. Happy drove her to school, which was weird, and awkward. Normally, Happy only drove her from school to the Tower or Compound for the internship but now, since the apartment was too far from Midtown, Happy need to drive her. She wasn’t all happy about this. It made she feel like a burden, Happy was never happy to drive her in the past, and she missed her old home. Penny only have to walk from home to school for about 15 minutes, she used to hate it because she had to drag herself out of the warm blanket into the snowy street in the winter. Oh, how stupid she was! Now, Penny only missed it.

She missed everything belong to her old life.

The moment Penny stepped into the school, she could feel the change in the atmosphere. There were many new faces, which was obvious, new school walls paints, new cameras system, … even the trees seem to be different too.

_It has been 5 years, what did you expect?_

It took Penny a good amount of time to find her new locker. She put her stuff in it and when she turned around while closing the locker, her eyes met Flash’s. He didn’t say anything, not even a threat or a ‘Puni Parker’. He just turned away, completely ignored her.

Penny went to her first class. New classmates (to her), new classroom, new teacher, old lesson. Her new teacher seemed to didn’t like her, for whatever reason that Penny didn’t know, and constantly glared at her even when she only shifted slightly in her chair. She directed the hardest questions at Penny and when the girl answered it with ease, she scoffed and turned away. All her new classmates simply ignored her, like she was air, invisible. Penny would say that wasn’t a good start.

And whatever happened at school the following week wasn’t good either. Her teachers, some of them were old, some were new. It would have been fine if some of her new teachers hated her and treated her so unfairly. One of them even gave her detention after she answered her question right, because her teacher claimed that she was disrespect (no, she didn’t, one minute she was taking notes, the next she was being given a detention). And her peers. While most of them ignored her (Flash was among of them, surprisingly), the others were the worst. Some of the boys bullied her in physical ways, they shoved her into the locker, tripped her while she was walking and even pushed her from the top of the stairs. Flash was bad, but never this bad, he knew his limit. And the girls. It started with some taunts and then shoving, pulling hair, then slapping and mocking her in front of the whole school. No one did anything, and Penny didn’t want to disturb May and Happy so she didn’t say anything.

Even with her healing factor, it was getting harder and harder to hide the bruises and cuts from May and Happy. She still got her perfect acting ability to help her but it was starting to annoy her pretty much. Penny wanted to help the other kids by taking all this bullying thing on her so they wouldn’t be hurt, but well… She had a snapping point like everyone okay?

So on the Wednesday morning of the second week, instead of going to her AP Chem class like how she was supposed to, she went straight to the principal’s office. Sitting in front of principal Morita with her school counselor and secretary, she only felt the urge to get this done (which was opposite from the anxious feeling she used to feel before the snap). Principal Morita started slowly.

“So… You want to graduate from high school soon, in only about a month or two? Any reason for this?”

That’s right. Penny wanted to get out of high school as soon as possible. Before, because May wanted her to live a normal life of a child, and also because of Ned, she had forced herself to attend high school like normal kids her age. But anyone who truly knew Penny Parker knew that she was already miles ahead her peers if mentioning about education. She was smart, too smart for her ages. And her curiosity always urged her to learn more and more, never stopped, never satisfied. Penny was like ‘a dry sponge toward knowledge’, or that what her uncle Ben used to say about her.

Penny made this decision by herself, she knew May wouldn’t be happy about that and she didn’t know what she would do after graduate from high school, but…screw it.

“Yes, sir.” Penny nodded “I want to graduate as soon as possible.”

The man clasped his hands in front of him, eyeing her carefully.

“That doesn’t answer my second question, Ms. Parker. Why do you want to graduate soon?”

“First of all, sir. I don’t exactly get on well with the others recently…”

“That’s can be changed after some time…”

“And, on top of that, I don’t feel like I’m really learning new things from my lessons, sir.” Penny raised her voice to cut the man off. She knew it was rude but with all the stress she was suffering recently, she was too tired to care.

Mr. Morita clamped his mouth shut and before he could say anything else, the school counselor chimed in.

“If you really feel like that, we could arrange you to have a new schedule with the upper class. Of course, there will be tests, but…”

“No, sir.” Penny shook her head “I want to graduate. I’m sure even if I attend the upper class, it wouldn’t help me all that much. Please give me a chance.”

The three adults looked at each other, didn’t know what to say to the girl. It had been an unexpected meeting. Suddenly, the shy Penny Parker showed up in front of the principal’s office door, demanding a talk with the principal about a soon graduation. They weren’t prepared for this when they came to school this morning.

Mr. Morita cleared his throat.

“Okay, … I’m sure we can arrange something in that case. But, before that, I need to ask you something.” He locked his eyes with Penny “Ms. Parker, are you really sure about this? Are you sure that you know all the knowledge this school may offer you? Thinking about it again and answer me, please.”

Penny looked at him, determent. “Yes, sir. I’m sure.”

The man sighed and leaned back on his chair.

“Alright, if you are so sure. We can make arrange tests and maybe oral exam to help you finish all the high school credit and test your ability. Is that okay, Ms. Parker?”

Penny nodded. “Totally fine, sir.”

“Alright, please leave your phone number here so we can inform you about the details later. After that you can come back to your class. And if I were you, I would start to revise as soon as possible.”

After the girl left the office, the secretary collected the small piece of paper with Penny’s name and phone number on it while Mr. Morita told the school counselor.

“Please inform the teachers to make the tests for Ms. Parker. Maybe even arrange a meeting between teachers if you think that is needed. I want to make these tests as hard as possible, even harder than our exit examination.”

The counselor hesitated, even the secretary seem worry as well.

“Alright, sir. But… What if she pass it?”

“Then there is no reason for her to stay here. It would be our fault to keep a bright mind rooting in the four walls of school. And if she doesn’t pass it, arrange her a new schedule, advanced enough so she wouldn’t get bored. Although, I don’t believe that would be the case.”

The counselor felt shocked.

“Wha… You believe that she will pass all of it, sir?”

“You never have the chance to see her the day she came here for an interview for the scholarship, Mr. Hans. I, on the other hand, had the chance to see it. It was the day after the entrance exam, I talked to her in this room. She was such a shy girl, but her eyes, there was light in it. Light of brilliance. And so far, I have never stopped being surprised by her mind. She is someone, who I believe to go far in the future, farer than most of us will ever be.”

“O…Oh, okay. I will go start preparing now, sir.”

Mr. Hans and the secretary quickly left the room after that, left the principal alone with his thought. Morita turned around to look at the window on his spinning chair.

“Ms. Parker… Show me what you actually have in your sleeves.”

That evening, Penny received a message from the school. She would start her exams the following week. She would have 2 paper tests on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, and an oral test on Thursday morning. She would continue to take more exam until she fail at some subjects, and if she pass them all, she could graduate. This whole thing would take her about 6 weeks, she could come home after finish all the tests arranged for that day and take Tuesday as a day off if she want.

It was a stressful process but it had helped Penny pretty much. Every day, Happy would drop her off at school, she finished her tests then went to a library nearby to revise and prepared for the following tests, then she would walk back school just in time for Happy to pick her up. May and Happy didn’t know or suspect even a thing. They thought she was having normal classes and had a good time at school.

If only they had asked, then they might have find out what exactly was happening.

She was finish her last test for the day when she received message from Friday. She wasn’t supposed to use her phone during the test so she turned it off. Penny was on her way from school to the library when she read her message. She had asked Friday, secretly, to told her the moment Mr. Stark woke up since she knew he was in the Medbay at the Tower. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the others, she just wanted to know as soon as possible.

She ran toward the Tower like a mad person, didn’t care about the other people’s stares or how many times she had tripped. All she knew was she had to get to her mentor. She was in such a hurry that she slammed into someone, a man in a white blouse. She quickly stood up, saying sorry again and again while helping him to stand up. But when Penny was trying to get pass him to continue her way to Mr. Stark’s room, the man stopped her.

“Where do you think you are going?”

“Uh,… I’m going to visit Mr. Stark. I’m his protégé.” She stuttered.

“What’s your name?”

“Penny, Penny Parker sir.”

“Listen here Ms. Parker, there is only a limited number of people who can visit him, which mean only his family. And I’m sure you aren’t on the list I was given.”

Ouch. That’s hurt.

Penny wondered why she wasn’t on that list. Mrs. Stark told her that she could come and visit Mr. Stark later when he’s conscious. Why wasn’t her on the list? Maybe because Mrs. Stark forgot or something like that? Or maybe…

_Because she wasn’t a part of Mr. Stark’s family._

“Look, you should better go now or I will call security!”

Penny nodded and turned away without any intention to really leave. She went to the toilet, climb into the vent and easily passed the man who had stopped her earlier. She climbed out of the vent, cursed at her then dirty clothes and went to Mr. Stark’s room. Only she didn’t go in.

She hiden herself behind the room’s door. From her place, through the small glass window on the door, she could she what was happening inside the room. Mr. Stark, who was still connected to many machines and seemed to be so paled, was kissing a little girl head. Morgan. His daughter. She recognized with a pang on her chest. Mr. Stark was having the softest expression on his face that Penny ever seen, it was so full of love. Surrounded his bed was Mr. Rhodey, Mrs. Stark, May and Happy. They all looked so happy, smiles brightening their faces.

_A family._

Penny’s heart clenched as she recognized the distant between her and them was much farer than a few feet. It was like they were in a different world that she wasn’t belong to.

She turned around and left. At least she knew Mr. Stark was okay now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's now 2:40 am and I'm still awake. I tried to finish writing this chapter by listening to AC/DC to stay awake. Gosh, I will certainly turn into a panda tomorrow, and my back is aching.  
> I will update as soon as possible, hopefuly this weekend.
> 
> Pls comments to let me know what you thing. Kudos are also very appriciated <3


	5. The first thing.

Penny walked back school in total silence. Her mind was deep in thought and sadness. A part of her was screaming and shouting angrily about how unfair the world was to her. While a bigger part told her that she was such an ungrateful and pathetic bitch, who was so greedy and selfish.

She felt like she didn’t deserve Spider Girl, who was always so wise, so kind, so selfless, who always put everyone in front of herself. A true hero.

And she hated this feeling. She didn’t like to think that she was betraying Spider Girl, the hero who was born because of her uncle. But here she was, being so greedy and selfish, lying to everyone else surrounded her, even May. What would her uncle say? How disappointed he would be if he knew what Penny did? Even after the last words he gave her?

Penny felt like she was being tortured. Just looking at her reflection made her feel like she was going to vomit. The reflection that only screamed at her _pathetic, greedy, ungrateful, bitch…_

She sat on a bench near her school gate to wait for Happy to pick her up only to receive a message on her phone an hour later. Happy told her to go back to the apartment on her own, maybe by catching a train or something. She gave him a thumb up, too tired with herself to replied. On the train, her eyes were glued to the screen of her phone, waiting for a message from Mrs. Stark, May or Happy about Mr. Stark. Nothing came.

Opening the door of the apartment, an unsettling feeling bubbled inside her. Even after a month staying here, Penny still couldn’t call this place ‘home’. To her, it was ‘May and Happy’s apartment’ or just ‘the apartment’. Nothing about this place brought her any comfortable feeling, there was only ‘temporary’, like she was going to leave the place the next day. It wasn’t her home.

She waited until 6:30 before started to make her own dinner. Still no message from the adults. Penny made some spaghetti and eat it while watching her phone, wait for any kind of new message. None. Not even one from May to told her to have dinner on her own. She ate and then take a bath, revised for the next test in total silence of the apartment.

At eight, May and Happy finally came home. Penny left her desk in her room to go out and greet them.

“May, Happy! You are back. Why were you so late? Is there anything new about Mr. Stark?”

The two adults exchanged a meaningful glance at each other. May turned back to her, smiled and said.

“I’m sorry, dear. We were too caught up at work. Happy came and help me at the shelter this afternoon. We were too busy. There wasn’t anything new about Tony yet. Have you had your dinner yet?”

Penny felt shocked. She was being lied to! About Mr. Stark’s condition! Why? Why? Why did they do that to her?!

Penny knew she was also lying to May and Happy, about her school things. But it was because they didn’t really ask, if they did, Penny would definitely tell them. Was that karma? For being such a bad person?

_Was she really a bad person?_

Penny turned away, tried to act normally while having to contain her tears from falling.

“Oh. You must be very tired. I had dinner already, spaghetti. Have you had yours yet? I could make some.”

May and Happy refused her offer and went to their room, left Penny behind, alone in the large living room. The teenage girl went to turn off the light, her footsteps echoed in the silent room. Penny swallowed thick, tears rolled from her eyes to her cheeks and small sobs started to escape her throat. She pressed the switch and darkness filled the room. Darkness like a thick blanket covered the furniture, but with her enhanced sense, Penny had no problem seeing thing.

She just wished that her sense could help her to find a way out from the situation she was in too.

The next few days weren’t all easy to Penny. May and Happy, and Mrs. Stark, still didn’t say anything to her, they acted like Mr. Stark still hadn’t wake up from the coma. She often had to went back on her own and stayed at the apartment alone for several hours since May and Happy weren’t there. She didn’t know if they were really at work (like what they told her), or they were actually at Mr. Stark’s.

Penny found herself doubted everything they told her, even the smallest thing. It felt like she was walking on thin ice and she could fall into the cold water every moment. It was really unsettling.

And about the tests she was taking, it was all going well. She was a member of the old decathlon team so the oral tests weren’t all that hard to her. The paper tests, she wasn’t having any hard time with it, maybe only with History and Literature but she got good memories so all good. Penny received her tests result at the end of the day through the messages that were sent to her phone and it never went under 95 point so she could continue to do her tests. The principal had already warned her that if she fail one test she would have to stop taking the other one and take the new arranged schedule, which mean no soon graduation. And Penny could say that the school had made the tests carefully, all the questions were well picked, and really hard if compare to the school normal exit exams. So Penny spent half of her time alone to revise.

But being alone was getting harder and harder. Anytime she was alone and not concentrate in preparing for her next tests, her mind wandered around. It toying with many bad ideas and pushed her farer and farer always from any good thought, about herself and the adults surrounded her. So one day, about more than a month after the snap, she talked with Happy.

“Can I come back to be Spider Girl?”

The man glanced up from his phone and looked at her.

“Sure, were wondering when you will ask about that?”

“So, I can…?”

“Yes, let me bring back the suit tomorrow.”

And that how Penny found herself in the Spider Girl suit, standing at the top of the Empire State building. The wind was breezing and Penny let herself have a deep breath. She ran toward the end of the roof and jumped, an arm stretched out to shot a web attached to a building nearby. The experience made her laugh happily.

For once, after coming back from the snap, she felt…free.

Like all the bad things that had been weighed her down disappeared. Like she had come back to her old life.

People on the streets started to point at her and took out their phones to take pictures, they waved and shouting thing, like “She comes back!”, “Spider Girl comes back!”. And Penny smiled to herself while waved back at them and thought,

_Yeah, I’m back._

Penny loved being Spider Girl. She had come back to be Queens local hero for more than a week now. Apparently, she wasn’t really just a local hero anymore. With the Avengers absence and the rumor that Spider Girl was a part of the team, her appearance had become something that everyone seeked for. It’s a little annoying, but also heart-warming to know that there were people who loved her, loved Spider Girl. And she wasn’t just a burden.

It was nice, jogging between doing her tests and preparing for them and being Spider Girl.

Until it wasn’t.

Penny started to question herself when the negative thoughts crawled back into her mind. Was she doing alright? Would she disappoint all the people that had put their trust in her?

_Was Spider Girl a real hero?_

Even when Spider Girl was smiling, joking and helping people around, those questions were still lingered there, in her mind. She felt like a little girl who was lost in a dark forest, scared and confused. Spider Girl needed Mr. Stark. Penny needed Mr. Stark.

May and Happy hadn’t say anything, they still kept up with their lie while Penny silently craved for the day when she could meet her mentor again. Mr. Stark was an inventor, he was a fixer. He could fix anything. He could help Penny, he could help her make everything better.

Penny trusted him.

So when May and Happy finally told her the truth, she burst out crying. She just came back from a long patrol and it was only 9. May and Happy were sitting in the dinner table. When they saw her came in, her aunt smiled and told her,

“Penny, Tony just wake up today. We are thinking that we will go and visit him tomorrow, if you want, of course.”

Penny’s eyes welled with tears and there was a lump in her throat. She managed to choke out.

“Really?”

May gave her a sad smile and Penny stepped toward and wrapped her aunt into a hug. She could still saw the adults exchanged meaningful glance but she didn’t care. She didn’t care that they were still lying to her. She didn’t care about that thing, all she cared about was meeting with Mr. Stark.

She cried and cried on May’s shoulder, the woman gently shushed her.

“Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, …” she mumbled into May’s shoulder again and again, too grateful to be let to meet with her mentor.

Since it was Saturday and she didn’t have school (well, technically, she didn’t have school like a normal kid, but May and Happy didn’t know that), her aunt and Happy let her stay with Mr. Stark for as long as she wanted to. Penny had picked up cheeseburgers and milkshake and hide it in her backpack, kept it there with her revised cards (she needed to learn, the following test was about history). The girl knew how awful hospital food could be (and she may or may not, had hacked the camera system of the Tower on her phone to figured out what was Mr. Stark’s food). Penny remembered that her mentor favorite food was cheeseburger, and also sure that milkshake was better than protein shake.

When she arrived at the Medbay floor, the man days before didn’t stop her. He just eyeing her carefully before nodded and let her go to Mr. Stark’s room.

Through the glass window on the door, Penny could see that he was alone in the room and was doing something on his Starkpad. She silently opened the door and stepped inside. The man looked up, smiled warmly when he realized it was her and opened his arms, abandoned the Starkpad, welcome a hug.

Immediately, she took his invitation and wrapped her arms around the man’s torso, careful about her strength. Mr. Stark gently smoothed her hair and Penny sobbed.

“Oh my god, oh my god, Mr. Stark. I thought you were dying. I saw… I thought…”

She bursted out crying and the man kept doing his hands movements while calmed her down in his soft voice.

“I’m sorry, Penny. I’m so sorry. I’m okay now, I’m alright.”

It took a while for the crying to die down but they didn’t pull apart right away. Penny gripped her mentor’s shirt tightly in her hands, afraid if she let go, he would disappear. The man obviously had noticed it but didn’t say anything, just kept rocking them back and forth.

“I miss you.”

Penny mumbled into Mr. Stark’s shirt and the man replied without a pause.

“Me too, Underoos. Me too.”

She pulled back and finally noticed his right arm. A beautiful and shiny, golden and red metal arm. Penny gaped and stared at it.

“What? No “you have a metal arm? That’s so cool!” huh?”

Mr. Stark asked her, smirked playfully. Penny didn’t find the joke fun.

“You lost your right arm.” The girl stated silently.

_You are so useless. That’s why he lost his arm._

“Yeah, but the metal arm is pretty cool, isn’t it? Made by vibranium and Wakanda’s technology. Princess Shuri designed it. After some physical therapy, it won’t be any different from a real one.”

_He is comforting you. You are such a pathetic girl._

“After I get out of here, let’s tinker with it a bit. What do you think, kid?”

Penny looked up at him and smiled before replied, “Sure.”

She stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, put her backpack down on the floor next to the chair. She sat down while eyeing the room. Mr. Stark had less machines hooked up to him than the last time so that must be a good thing, right?

“So,” her mentor started to say, “how was school?”

“School was school.”

The man rolled his eyes “You know what I mean.”

“Pretty good. Nothing much happened.” That was true, if it went according to the plan, she would finish all the tests in two weeks. After that, she would be a graduated student.

The man nodded, seem to be satisfied with her answer.

“How was patrol, then? Having fun?”

“Yes, it’s good to be back.”

“Figured.”

The man picked up his Starkpad, scrolled through something on it.

“You are too kind, always eager to help. Of course helping people make you happy.”

_That’s not true. She wasn’t that good. She was a bad person._

“Spider Girl is trending on twitter. Everyone loves you.”

_Is that a good thing? Does she deserve them?_

Tried to shake off all the doubts, she changed the subject.

“How about you? After this, will you be okay?”

“Yes, I will be. With some physical therapy of course. But nothing to worry about. I just want to get out of here! It’s so boring!”

“Really?”

“Yes! And the food is killing me. I swear I will die because of protein shake!”

Then suddenly the man turned to look at her and use his pleading voice.

“Please sneak some foods from outside the next time you are here. You will be my savior.”

She raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“Are you really an adult, Mr. Stark? Because I’m not so sure if you are acting like one.”

Her mentor glared half-heartedly at her and turned away, pouting childishly.

“Oh, you are mad at me now. Guess I have to finish this myself” Penny said and took the cheeseburger and milkshake out of her bag, Mr. Stark immediately spoon around, eyes shining when he saw the food and drink.

“Penny, you are really my favorite intern!”

“I thought I’m your only intern?” She said and rolled her eyes while handing him the cheeseburger.

“That’s right, Ms. Parker. But my point still stand. Hmm, this is so good.” He exclaimed while taking a big bite into his burger, “Morgan will be mad at me if she know I eat this.”

“Morgan?” Penny asked while gave the man the milkshake cup. He took a sip before replied, “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Did you know about Morgan?”

“Yeah? Your daughter. Saw her photos, but haven’t meet yet.”

“That’s right. She is a cute girl. You will love her.”

The following hours was spent to listen to Mr. Stark’s rant about his daughter. While she had wished that the others would fill her in about the five-year gap, she wasn’t sure if she like this or not. Still, Penny tried to listen attentively and she somehow successful at it. Penny felt like she had already knew the little girl without meeting her. She knew her nickname, her favorite food, drink, what she liked to play… just from his mentor’s rant. It was obvious that Morgan was her dad’s whole world.

Penny felt jealous to the little girl, and she felt bad about it, but she just couldn’t help it.

To be someone’s whole world, someone like your parents, she wondered how it feel like. If it was before the snap, Penny would say that she believed that was Mr. Stark’s, or at least May’s whole world. Back then, everything was perfect, she got May as her mother figure and Mr. Stark as her father figure, but now…

She wasn’t so sure about that anymore.

With all the lying and having a new husband in May’s case, and a biological daughter in Mr. Stark’s case, Penny trust about their love to her cracked little by little.

And that was the first thing pushed her toward ‘the decision’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know. There isn't much thing happen in this chapter. I'm kinda in a hurry to finish this, since, well, it's 1:55 am here. And I have to wake up early to prepare for our Lunar New Year ceremony. Ugh, i hate this. At least I'm having a holiday.  
> I'm not sure if the next update will be this fast but I'm trying to post at least 3 chapters by the end of my holiday. After that, it's mid term so, long break.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading. The next chapter will be updated soon.  
> Pls, pls leave comments. Kudos are also very appriciated. <3


	6. I'm lost.

After the meeting with Mr. Stark at the hospital, Penny didn’t really know when she would be allowed to meet her mentor again.

May and Happy, maybe even Mrs. Stark and Mr. Stark himself, seemed to have different though about when would be the next time the teenage girl meet the man. The evening after she came home from the Stark Tower, Penny had asked if she could visit the man the following day. She was refused.

Her aunt and Happy… they told her that the following day Mr. Stark would have to meet with his doctors, they had to do some tests for the whole day, so no, she couldn’t go. Penny understood that and she didn’t say anything. The day after that, Penny brought up the topic again, and was refused, again. They said she had school, and patrol, and it’s not good if meeting her mentor affect her learning. Penny told them she would cut down her time for patrol and May, after exchange a glance with Happy, asked her about the people she wouldn’t be able to save if she do that. And she immediately understood the situation.

They didn’t want her to meet Mr. Stark.

May had never been fond of the idea of her went out too much for patrol, she even set a curfew for it. She hated it when Penny risked her life too much as Spider Girl. But now, May wanted her to go out and do it. The real answer was so clear to someone with such bright mind like Penny.

_But why?_

Why did they do that? Why didn’t they want her to meet him? Why? Did she do something wrong? Just… _why?_

Penny didn’t understand and she since the reason to her was unknown, she chose to not bring it up in front of May and Happy again. It’s not like they wanted to talk about it, though. The two of them always find a reason and change the topic anyway. She didn’t want to disturb them. And the whole lying thing made she didn’t really trust their word anymore.

So she made a plan.

It was simple, hack into the Stark Tower’s camera system to check on Mr. Stark. Penny wished that she could meet him and talk to him, she couldn’t call him, that’s just what her aunt say., but since the option was off the table, the best thing she could get was the update on her mentor’s health condition. She was worry, okay?

Hacking into the system wasn’t that hard for Penny. She had been so familiar with how it worked since she started her lab day sessions with Mr. Stark himself. The man had taught her practically everything related to the coding of FRIDAY, minus the most important part. Well, even so, she was smart enough to figure it out herself anyway.

Therefore, four days after meeting with Mr. Stark, she settled herself on top of a skyscraper near the Tower after patrol with a laptop. The laptop was brand new, the newest version of the Stark laptop series. It was something May bought for her to help with school work. Penny wanted to ask about her old laptop, also a product from the Stark Industry, which was a present from Mr. Stark, but wasn’t sure if she should ask or not.

With some carefully written lines of code, she successfully hacked into the camera system and with another few minutes, she found the camera that was currently recording her mentor. And she almost cried right away when she saw it.

The man, who once was so healthy, the great Iron Man, was struggling to stand up. It was a physical therapy, Penny recognized. Mr. Stark was in a large room with a man, maybe a therapist, she wasn’t sure. He had to leaned on two metal bars to walk, but even then, he was struggling. He fell after only a few steps then he had to tried to pull himself up again. It repeated again and again.

Penny felt tears stung in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment. She had a hand covered her mouth but wrecked sobs started to escaped despite her attempt to stop it. Her whole body shaking uncontrolled. And she gave in.

Tears started to roll out of her eyes and fell onto the roof. Penny let out soft wails between her sobs. She curled herself into a tight ball and cried.

_This is all your fault. If you had been better, he wouldn’t have to be like this. Spider Girl were supposed to be better. This is your fault. This is on you. You aren’t good enough. Pathetic girl. Useless, greedy, ungrateful, selfish…_

“I’m sorry,” she thought while crying “I’m so sorry sir.”

_It’s all my fault._

The next two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Penny followed a similar routine every day, woke up, went to school, finished the tests, went to the library, patrolled then ended up at a random rooftop near the Stark Tower, watched Mr. Stark through his physical therapy session before going back to the apartment.

Normally, watching Mr. Stark without his acknowledge for one hour straight would make Penny feel like a stalker. To be honest, she would feel her action creepy too. And the whole watching Mr. Stark thingy definitely didn’t make the situation any better but the girl just couldn’t help it. There was always something, something that urged her to do it. Penny knew clearly that she wouldn’t be able to help her mentor by sneakily watching him through his camera system or crying silently to herself. But that was all she could do, punishing herself for being do useless. She was supposed to be better. Mr. Stark had wanted her to be better. And she fail him. She deserved being miserable.

Her mind was clouded with a mixture of negative emotions such as sadness, anger, regret,… but even though she knew about her situation, she couldn’t do anything to stop it. These kinds of thing… is not something you can easily overcome by yourself. You need someone to help you, especially the closed one.

But the others, even if they didn’t mean to do it, didn’t realized anything. Obliviousness is not as harmless as many of us may though. It can kill a person from inside. And even then, the others won’t even realize it. On the other hand, it wasn’t something that someone who was sensitive like Penny could openly talk about it.

That’s why Penny was drowning.

She was still smiling, laughing and living like normal. But all that was for show. Behind the picture of a perfect lively girl, who always happy and oblivious about everything that the adults tried to hide from her, who was the real Penny Parker? The real Penny Parker was a liar, a perfect actor who had been so successful in hiding her scarred soul. She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing anymore.

She had hoped that Mr. Stark could help her when he woke up, but how could he do that if she wasn’t even allowed to meet him? So when the time for the next meeting with the man was mentioned in the middle of a dinner by May and Happy, Penny hoped, again.

It was a dinner on Friday night, with not only Mr. Stark, Mrs. Stark, May, Happy and Rhodey but also the Avengers team. It was to celebrate the revival of Ms. Romanoff (she didn’t know the detail about it) and Mr. Stark’s recovery from his coma. Penny personally thought that was a little too early with the second reason, but meeting with her mentor was the best new of the week to her.

Friday came.

Penny went back from the library an hour earlier than normal because of the dinner that day. It’s not like she need to put on make up or some girl stuff like that, but the girl knew she couldn’t concentrate in learning anyway with her excitement. A small part of her still had the childish excitement toward the idea of meeting the Earth mightiest heroes, but mainly it was that she could see her mentor again. She had missed the man, so much. Even if her little fantasy with the man was just her imagination, she was sure that his place in her heart wouldn’t change any time soon.

May and Happy came back after her a little. They prepared before leaving the apartment together. The drive didn’t take long, only about 10 minutes but it felt like eternity to the girl. She practically vibrated in her seat. After Happy parked the car, they went to the penthouse.

Penny stepped into the Tower, spring in her steps. And for the first time in days, she felt _alive_ again.

_Just a little more_ , she had thought, _that I can see him again_.

But when the three of them arrived at the penthouse, something inside Penny dropped. The penthouse was more crowded than usual with the appearance of the Avengers team. Mrs. Stark was cooking something in the kitchen with Captain America while Mr. Stark wasn’t too far away, talking with both of them and Ms. Romanoff and Mr. Barton at the same time. But the real thing that attracted Penny’s attention was the wheelchair.

Mr. Stark was sitting in a wheelchair, seemed slightly less pale than before. But if there was something that Penny knew about her mentor, was his disliking toward the thing. He once threw a tantrum about it after getting hurt from a small mission before the whole snapping thing. And if he had to sit on it like that, it’s mean he didn’t have a choice. And although having already seen how he had been struggling during his therapy session, it didn’t make it any easier for Penny to see him like that.

The smile on her lips seemed to be a little too tight for her own liking when the man greeted her, May and Happy.

“Underoos, May, Happy! Freaking finally! Took you guys long enough!”

May rolled her eyes while stepping toward to give the man a hug.

“You knew that Penny had school. And we aren’t late.”

“Yeah, well, you guys are later than everyone here so…”

Happy snorted from behind them.

“Whatever you say, boss. Where is Rhodey?”

“Just went out. And where is my hug? Your wife just gave me one, so where is yours?”

“I think I will pass it.”

With that Happy went to the kitchen with May, left Penny behind with Tony. Penny, on her part, was shocked. The Mr. Stark she knew wasn’t all that open about physical contacts, even with his friends. She never saw him hugged, or even demanded to have one with Happy. Although already acknowledge about his change during the past five years when she was gone, she couldn’t help but still felt surprised about it.

_How much exactly Mr. Stark had changed when she wasn’t here?_

“Penny.”

Mr. Stark’s call dragged her mind out of her thoughts. The man was smiling warmly at her and kept his arms opened for her to give him a hug. Just like the last time when they met at the Medbay. Penny stepped toward and wrapped her arms around his torso, the smile still on her face.

“Hi, Mr. Stark. It’s good to see you.”

“Hi to you too, kid. How was school?”

The man asked and they pulled apart. But when Penny opened her mouth to answer him, Mr. Stark wiggled a finger at her.

“Ah, ah, ah. I don’t like to listen to a “School was school.” As an answer again, kid.”

Penny raised an amused eyebrow at him and said “Actually, I was going to say “It was school” but,… fine.”

Her mentor groaned “Gosh, kid. I wonder who had corrupted you since it couldn’t be May.”

May answered from the kitchen.

“You know who it is. You are the one had done it, Tony.”

That earned a giggles from Penny and a pout from the said man. But Penny quickly tensed when she heard a small snort. It was Hawkeye.

Mr. Stark also seemed to be reminded about the appearance of the other Avengers in the room. He cleared his throat and started to say.

“So… Penny. I guess you have been very excited to meet the other Avengers. I knew you idolized them.”

_I’m more excited to meet you, Mr. Stark._

But she didn’t say that out loud, instead, she blushed and whined.

“Mr. Stark…”

Her mentor laughed and started to introduced.

“I guess you already knew all about their name so let just ignore that part. Everyone, this is my intern and also New York favorite local hero, Spider Girl, or Spider Woman, but her real name is Penny Parker. She is sixteen and in high school but don’t let her age fool you, she is practically a genius.”

“I’m not that smart…”

“Nonsense. If Tony has to praise someone for their intellect then that person must be really smart. Nice to meet you Penny.”

Mr. Barton cut her off and held out a hand. Penny shyly shook it while saying.

“Nice to meet you too, sir.”

“Just call me Clint.”

After that, the other Avengers, including Captain America, who had been busy cooking in the kitchen until then, came to introduced themselves. Penny quickly realized that they were friendly (although it seemed like Mr. Rogers didn’t like that she was too young, but let just ignored it) and more human than she had thought.

Penny had a pretty good time without not so much negative thoughts. At least until dinner came. 

Everyone was settling down around the large dinner table when Happy suddenly spoke up.

“Wait, Morgan won’t join us?”

Morgan? Oh right. Where is she? Isn’t she supposed to be here?

“Yeah, where is my favorite niece?”

That sentence made Penny’s heart skipped a beat. Because… it came from none other than her aunt May.

For all her life, Penny had always been May’s only niece. Even before the accident that had took her parents’s life, her aunt had always loved her like she was her own. And when Penny came to live with her and Ben, and especially after her uncle’s death, that love only grew stronger. For a long time, May had been the last person Penny could call as family, and Penny had been her whole world. They loved each other like mother and daughter. No one could separate them, no one could tear them apart. No one. Their love would never ever change.

Or that what Penny had thought.

She wasn’t wrong,…was she?

No. No, no, no. Penny wasn’t wrong. She was certain. She knew that their relationship wasn’t really ideal at the moment, but, this, she wasn’t wrong! May loved her! She would never replace Penny!

_…Right?_

May wasn’t… didn’t… replaced her, right?

She couldn’t… Penny had always been a good girl, wasn’t she? May always told her that. Always said she was a perfect niece. And Penny had been, right? She always tried to make May proud. She always tried her best to do it. And May had been, right? May always said so! There wasn’t even a reason why she would do that!

But she had been lying to her, right? She had lied to her, even though she had promised! And wasn’t Penny a bad person too? Even she hated herself! Why wouldn’t May have a reason to hate her?

May…

Penny wasn’t a burden on May’s new life, right? Her aunt… her mom wouldn’t leave her, right?

_If she really left her, who Penny would have left?_

Penny’s gaze moved automatically to Mr. Stark, feeling hard to breath with the sudden emotion rush. The man was sitting a little far from her, casually answering May.

“She nagged Rhodey to buy cheeseburger for her earlier. She already fell asleep when the two came back to the Tower from Burger King, so I let her sleep in her room.”

“Oh.”

Penny was still staring at the man, who didn’t notice her gaze at him, for a moment before started eating dinner with everyone. It was so hard to eat with the lump in her throat. She hoped she wasn’t going to vomit.

As the dinner carrying on, Penny found herself half listening to the Avengers chatting to each other. They were talking about funny old memories and laughing out loud because of it. Penny would also find it amused if she wasn’t paying too much attention to the others’s stories. May, Happy, Rhodey, Mrs. Stark and even Mr. Stark were talking about the last five years. They were also reliving the old memories, from the past five years. When she wasn’t even here to be involved in any of it. She couldn’t join in their conversation. She didn’t even know what they were talking about! She wasn’t here to know anything about it.

She had wished everyone to fill her in, right? Why did she feel like this? She was contradicting with herself!

Penny seemed to be the only person who wasn’t involved in any story was told around the table, or even had the chance to witness it. Still, she smiled and laughed like a puppet when the others laughed. No one wanted a moody teenager in a celebration feast.

Looking around the table, Penny silently asked herself.

_Was she supposed to be here after all?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments and kudos! Your support have great meaning to me! You don't know how I has screamed like crazy when I saw the number of kudos passed 100!  
> Anyway, here, the next part of this story. Penny was kinda closed to her snapping point right now. You know, earlier I have thought that distrust and miscommunication could destroy the healthiest relationship and I thought : "Why don't mix the two together?" and that's how the story go. Also, depression and obliviousness can be real bitches sometimes. I know this, I'm a victim of it too. Poor Penny.
> 
> Pls, pls comment! Kudos are also very appriciated!
> 
> p/s: not so sure when I can post the next chapter so this one is a little longer than the other.


	7. Tell me what to do.

Later that night, when everyone was saying goodbye before leaving, Penny asked her mentor.

“Will I be able to see you again soon?”

Her mentor smiled but didn’t answer her question. The teenage girl swallowed the uncomfortable feeling and changed the question.

“So, can I use the lab? I need to make more web fluid, you know. Happy didn’t bring back enough from the compound.”

And that was true. Since she wasn’t sure if she could use the lab in the Tower, and she couldn’t use the school chemicals anymore (since, you know, she didn’t really have classes at school), Happy was the one who brought the web fluid for her to use. Penny didn’t know how the Compound still had that much fluid, but she didn’t question it.

Her mentor ruffled Penny’s hair before telling her, “We will see about that. We will see.”

And that was that. For a week since then, Penny didn’t hear anything from the man. She obviously didn’t feel comfortable about that silence, but at the same time, she only had one week left before graduating high school (if everything went according to the plan, of course) so she had her mind distracted with her future plan. She didn’t know what to yet, not really. Therefore she figured she should talk to her aunt first, Penny need her to sign some papers anyway.

So when Happy messaged her and told her he was going to picked her up after school the following Friday, Penny was surprised. She was even more surprised when he drove her straight to the Tower.

When they were parking, Happy told her to ride the elevator to the penthouse herself and that Mr. Stark was waiting for her. Penny felt a rush of excitement and she immediately jumped out of the car the moment the engine turned off. It felt so familiar, like it was just a day of the internship. Like five years hasn’t already passed.

She hummed happily during the elevator ride and bursted through the door when it opened. She said, almost shouted, excitedly to her mentor, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room.

“Hi, Mr. Stark! Happy told me you are waiting for me?”

The man jumped, hand clutched his chest in mock anger.

“Jesus, kid. Warn a man next time. I have a heart condition.”

Penny scratched her neck, not really felt any guilty.

“Sorry sir. But what you called me here for?”

Her mentor smiled at her, and to Penny’s surprise, he stood up and walked toward her. The man put a hand on her shoulder and lead the two of them to the elevator.

“You will see it soon kid.”

They went downstairs. Penny felt a mixture of worry and guilty churning inside her as she followed the man. Even if he was walking on his own, his steps were shaky and he seem tired as he doing that. The two of them finally arrived at a brand new lab that Penny had never seen before.

Her mentor sat down heavily on a chair in the room, hand gesturing around the room. He seemed out of breath after the short walk.

“So, this is where you will work if there is anything related to Spider Girl or, well, science.”

“Wha…Mr. Stark? I don’t understand.”

The man sighed tiredly.

“This is your own lab, for short.”

“My…my lab? I won’t work with you in your lab anymore?”

“Uh, basically, yeah. I think you earned it a long time ago, with your intelligence. Should have done this long before.”

Wha…? Did Mr. Stark not like working with her?

Penny thought they both loved to work together in the lab. She really enjoyed it. It had always been the high light of the week to her. With the man, she never had to worry about embarrassing herself with her nerdy rambling, which was rare. Most people, from adults to kids her age, that she met since she was small often told her to shut up. Even her old teachers, not all of them liked one of their students outsmart them. With Mr. Stark, it’s different. The man was a real genius. He listened attentive to her and sometimes even comment on it. He encouraged her to speak up more and that he didn’t bother. Penny listened to him and do as he said. She even enjoyed the idea that someone so smart like Tony Stark listened to her opinion and didn’t hate it.

Or that was what Penny had thought.

Mr. Stark was annoyed by something, maybe her presence in the lab or her rambling, or… or something. Something she had done. That was the only conclusion she could come to. Their lab, no, Mr. Stark’s lab was huge, there was so much space that he never had to use. He gave Penny more than enough space with her own station, where she could do practically anything science-related, and a ton of the most modern technology devices. Anyone who had a chance to just look at all the equipment she was given can deemed themselves as lucky. Penny loved her space in Mr. Stark’s lab.

She loved spending time with her mentor even more.

That’s why Penny felt more than just a little lost.

She wanted to say sorry to the man. She didn’t mean to annoy him that much, and if he wanted to, she could totally shut up or take less space, or stop doing anything that disturbed the man. But Penny knew, _sorry didn’t cut it_. Her mentor was always very patient with her, and if she had done something he hated so much that made him kicked her out of the lab, then it couldn’t be something she could easily fix. Even if Penny asked the man, he wouldn’t tell her. He wasn’t a heartless man. Mr. Stark wouldn’t say the real reason to why he did this if it meant that it would hurt Penny’s feeling. Technically, no one would do that.

So Penny didn’t ask. There wasn’t any point if she couldn’t receive a truthful answer. A part of her told her that maybe there was another reason. Something related to the five years when she wasn’t here. But Penny pushed it away, didn’t want to think about that, she was too tired for the shit that five-years-being-dead already threw her way. Penny could hardly contain it anymore.

Mr. Stark clapped his hand together, pulled the teenage girl out of her thought.

“So, I will leave you here now. Enjoy your new lab, yeah?”

With that he left the room, leaving Penny behind alone. Suddenly, the girl felt she was so small. The silence in the lab made her stomach churn, the excited feeling she felt a moment before disappeared like it wasn’t there in the first place.

Penny inhaled deeply, muttered to herself.

“Come on, be grateful.”

The next day…was worse.

Penny patrolled until late evening, but May never set a curfew after she came back so the girl wasn’t worry too much. She stopped some muggers and was on her way back to the apartment when it started raining.

Groaned to herself, Penny swung faster, and that was when everything went downhill. She saw a man with knife, threatened a young girl in a dark alleyway. It’s a duty to Spider Girl to stop these things, so obviously, she interfered.

“Hey! What kind of a man who threat a young girl, huh? Where is your manners, gentleman?”

She shouted and landed a kick on the robber’s chest, which sent the guy a few steps back. She wasn’t use her full force, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hurt. While the mugger tried to take some few deep breaths, Penny turned back to the shaking young girl, eyeing her carefully to find any possible injury and gently told her.

“Hey, it’s alright now. I will protect you. Do you feel pain anywhere? Are you injured?”

The victim shook her head, still seemed so pale.

“Okay, that’s good. If your house near here, can you go alone please? I want to escort you home but I’m a little busy here.” Penny said, slightly turned her head back to look at the man.

The young girl nodded her head gratefully before running away, not after sending a “Thank you, Spider Girl!” over her shoulder.

Turned herself back to face with the mugger, Penny finally had time to look at him carefully. The person she saw couldn’t be called a man. Inside a rumpled thin T-shirt, a soaked pair of jeans and a black, dirty coat was a boy. Maybe about 14 or 15. His age couldn’t be so much different from hers.

“You bitch! You made her runaway!”

The boy shouted in anger but Penny only snapped back.

“Watch your tone, boy! Your parents teach you like that? That how a boy speaks to a lady!?” then she sighed tiredly “Why do you do this, anyway?”

“Don’t talk to me like that! What do you know about me?! Do you know how it feel when you suddenly lost your house, your money?! Suddenly don’t have enough food to eat?! Suddenly become homeless?! Suddenly lost your friends?! I bet you don’t!”

The words affected Penny more than she had expected. She stood there, shocked, and the boy stabbed her with his knife before running away.

Blood quickly soaked her suit, but Penny didn’t care about that much. It wasn’t a deep wound and her healing factor will take care of it in a day or two. But she was still shocked.

It’s true. She had a place to stay, enough foods to eat, can still go to school, have a lab to do whatever she wanted, etc… but she wasn’t satisfied. She still hated her life, hate the situation she was in. How stupid and ungrateful was she.

Penny swung to the Stark Tower. She felt so lost. She needed Mr. Stark. She need her mentor. He would know what to do, he would understand.

So she swung and swung… Heavy raindrops made her vision unclear, and her stomach wound was painful, but she didn’t care. She continued to swung. Finally landed on the penthouse balcony, Penny stepped near the door before stopping herself.

It was a balcony of someone’s room, not the living room. The green flowery curtain wasn’t closed probably, so by curiosity, Penny peeked into the room. It must be a curse, because normally she would never do that. Her heart stopped when she saw the scene in the room.

Her mentor was sitting beside a bed, hand holding a kid book while carding his hand through his daughter’s hair. His face was so soft with adoration and love. Morgan was tucked under a pink blanket, face sleepy. Penny must have landed in Morgan’s room balcony.

“It is late, sweetheart. Why don’t we continue this tomorrow?”

Penny heard the man said.

“No, keep reading daddy. I want to know what happen to Eddie.”

Mr. Stark chuckled softly and relented.

“Alright, alright.”

Then with a soft tone, he started to read the story.

Penny felt her legs seemed to be too weak to support her weight. She sat down on the black tiles, back against the cold glass door. Ripped her mask off, Penny realized that she had been crying.

Hot tears mixed with the cool raindrops on her face. She didn’t know how much she had cried that night, outside Morgan’s bedroom. The blood from her wound was washed away by the rain, but the pain was still there. It made her feel numb. She held back her sobs as she listened to her mentor’s gentle voice.

She felt jealous again.

She didn’t remember much about her parents, beside some fuzzy, broken images of them in her mind. She couldn’t recall any memories about her parents tucked her to bed. Not a good one, anyway. She remembered the last night before they were _gone_ , nothing more.

She jealous with Morgan, who still have the chance to spend a normal, carefree, happy childhood with her parents. Could still listen to her dad’s voice telling her bedtime stories. That’s selfish, Penny knew. She just couldn’t help it.

And… the word. _Sweetheart_. Mr. Stark used to call her that occasionally. Ben and May too. But now, she wasn’t sure if anyone would call her that, parental, anymore. So, yeah, she was jealous. Why her life had to be so fucked up?!

But then a small voice whispered in her mind, and she remember the mugger’s word.

She was supposed to be grateful. She should have been! Why she had to be so greedy?! She was Spider Girl! A selfless, kind hero. She shouldn’t be like this. Never be like this. She should have feel grateful for what she still had, there were tons of people out there who must be jealous with her. They had the right to be.

_Why she was like this?_

How could Penny continue to be Spider Girl if she was such a greedy, selfish person? How could she deserve the hero? How could she deserve everyone who believe her?

Penny was so lost.

_Tell me, tell me what to do now._

_Help._

_Mr. Stark!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of Corona virus, my school let us stay at home. Guess there will be more time to write this then. ;)
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think.  
> Kudos are also very appriciated.


	8. I'm done.

After years of being the principal of a high school full of bright minds like Midtown High, James Morita had never seen someone so unique like Penny May Parker.

She was a teenage girl with a beautiful appearance, yet didn’t like, even tried to avoid attention. She was humble, kind but also very energetic. And she was bright. Very bright, she got a great mind, Morita had heard many teachers gave her compliments. They said she was a genius, or she could be, if she wasn’t so distracted. James knew she never really paid so much attention to her learning, she didn’t let her grade slip though, always a straight A student. But he knew she could be more, if she really tried to, or wanted to show it. But she never did.

So he was quite shocked yet excited when the girl said she wanted to graduate early. He wanted to see her full ability, what she really had. But he still shocked after seeing her tests result. Even with oral tests, her marks never slipped under 95. They tried to make her next tests harder but it didn’t seem to faze her even a bit. She just…aced it. With ease. And when it came to the last test, James had called some of his old friends, who were professors of ivy league universities. Their majors were different from each other, but they were still among the best in the world. James had asked them to help make the last test, meaning the test will be very challenging even to college students.

He knew it was unfair to the girl, but it was the last chance for him to see her ability. And even if she couldn’t ace it like how she previously did, he could still let her graduate high school if she pass 60 point.

He couldn’t say that he was surprised to see her test result after that.

He and the school counselor had been her supervisor during the time she doing her last test. James saw how the girl’s eyes had shined after skimming through the test subject. She had done it with a weird excitement, calculating and solved the problems while humming happily. He could say that the girl was satisfied with how hard the test was. And when he saw the 100 number was written with red ink on her test after they marked it, he wasn’t surprised.

Looking at the girl who was sitting in front of him in the principal’s office, he knew he was seeing a freaking genius. James passed her a clear bag full of papers and told her with a smile on his face.

“Congratulation, Ms. Parker. You had aced all the tests. You are now one step away from officially graduating high school. In the bag I just gave you were papers that need your guardian’s signature. After they sign it, you can bring it here yourself and I will give you some papers prove your graduation. And after that, you are no longer a high schooler and can go to college if you want.”

“Oh, thank you. But, wow, I don’t know that there is this much papers to sign.”

The girl said with awe while examine the thick bag in her hands. James laughed.

“No, no. Don’t worry. Most of the papers inside it is actually photocopies of your tests. We keep the real version of it, but you are allowed to bring the photocopies home. So, about the last test, how do you feel about it?”

The girl seemed to be taken back.

“Wha… well, I mean… it was pretty challenging, sir. I must say that I didn’t know the last test will be that hard.”

“But you still aced it, weren’t you? So, tell me, how did you do that test? Because you obviously didn’t revise it at home.”

Yes, he was curious, how did she knew how to do the test if she didn’t know about the knowledge that would be tested?

“Uhm, it wasn’t anything special, actually. They are just the things that I had read from books before. I thought it was college level? Because I read books from college that I bought from an old bookstore.”

James laughed again.

“Yes, yes. You are right. More than a half of them was college level! I had to ask for help from some college professors to make that test actually.”

“Oh, wow… I...uh, didn’t know…”

The girl blushed so violent that made him had to stiff another laugh. He shook his head and thought.

_This girl…_

“Alright, that’s all you need to know. You are free to leave now.”

Looking at the retreating form of the girl, James Morita knew he was seeing a genius that would take the world by storm.

After examining all the papers in the clear bag, Penny put it into her backpack. It wasn’t about anything too important, at least to her, mainly because of legal stuffs. It seemed like she couldn’t graduate from high school without her guardian’s permission. Let out a sigh, she continued her walk to the usual library.

So, the first step in her plan was talking to May about the whole graduation thingy. But what would be the next? She didn’t really know. Maybe go to college? New York did have some very good ones. Or take a gap year? Wasn’t a bad idea either. She could go out to discover more aspects of life, there was many interesting things she never knew or tried. Or maybe she could just do what she liked, embroidery or crafting. Yeah, definitely not a bad idea.

“Well, maybe I just need to ask them for advice.”

The next day was Saturday. Penny started her day with a heavy feeling in her chest. Maybe it wasn’t her day.

Oh, how right she was!

During breakfast, May told her that she thought it was an appropriate time to sort out her old stuffs, and Penny had agreed. The girl actually felt surprised that they actually kept her things in a storage room at Stark Tower. She was glad, there were many things she wanted to kept.

Happy opened a room two floors under the penthouse for her, after that, he and May left her to sort thing out alone.

“Your aunt and I will wait in the penthouse living room!”

“Okay, Happy!”

Penny answered the man over her shoulder, attention was putting on the pile of boxes in the dusty room. It must have been years since the last time someone stepped inside here.

Notes written in black ink outside every boxes. She recognized it was May’s handwriting. Smiling to herself, Penny opened boxes after boxes. There wasn’t any clothes of hers left, but she didn’t mind. It’s not like she need them anymore. Dived into the pile, she ignored the boxes that written “kitchen utensils”, “plastic containers”… she didn’t know what she wanted to find, but she kept reading the notes, opening boxes. She stopped at the boxes that written “photos” and was surprised at what she found.

There had been so many family pictures were hang in her old apartment living room ever since when Penny just moved in with her aunt and uncle. Her uncle told her that it wouldn’t make them forget about her biological parents, who had passed away. Penny was grateful every time she saw those pictures. Years after years, there was more picture were hang, and more picture were put into album. Penny liked all of them, even when she looked so silly in those pictures.

But the amount of photos inside the box, it couldn’t pass a quarter. What made her even more surprised was…there wasn’t any other box with pictures in it. The lump in her throat grew as she recognized the odd. There was only one picture with Ben in it, and two with her parents. The rest was only about her, or May. Taking a deep breath to calm her shaking body, she got up from the dirty floor that she was sitting on and continued her work. It wasn’t easy though. Her though darkened very quickly and she struggled to pushed it aside and concentrated on her work.

She stopped again at the boxes that written “Penny’s toys”. All her toys had been sold a long time ago, when she was ten and insisted that she was “too old for them”. Still, she knew her uncle kept her old doll, Iron Man mask and gauntlet, the stuffed animal thingy that came from her parents. But it wasn’t what she wanted to find when she opened the box. What she really wanted to see was a music box. It was a present from Ben for her birthday, he said he picked it up from a vintage store. And Penny had loved it from the first time she saw it. She had always kept it close, especially after what happened to her uncle. The music box was put on her desk, right next to her bed. Penny opened it occasionally, the melody always calmed her down from a nightmare or panic attack, eased her mind after a rough day. She loved listening to it, it felt like Ben was there for her again. May knew how important it was to Penny, surely she wouldn’t throw it away.

But it wasn’t inside the box.

In panic, Penny dived herself into the pile of boxes again, tried to find another box with similar note. She found none.

She rode the elevator to the penthouse, where she knew May was. Her aunt was sitting beside Happy, opposite her was Mr. Stark. They were chatting in the living room.

Seeing her, May smiled and asked.

“What’s the matter, honey? Are you done yet?”

“Where is my music box?”

Penny could hear how broken her voice was, but she didn’t care. Her attention was put on May’s sudden stiffened form.

“I’m sorry, Penny. I have given it to someone else.”

It took her a moment to process what she heard. Penny was at a loss of word before finally said, monotone.

“It was Ben’s.”

“I know, sweetie…”

“It was Ben’s.”

The girl raised her voice, something inside her shattered.

“Hey! Don’t raise your voice at your aunt!”

Her mentor scolded. And Penny’s façade finally crumbled. Tears fell from her eyes, her body shaking with anger, disappointment and sadness.

“It was Ben’s.”

She said, voice smaller, and ran out of the room.

The drive back to the apartment was silent, and tense, to say the least. Ignored the glance she received from Happy and May, Penny curled up with the box of photos and the stuffed animal, which was the only thing she brought with her, and stared out at the sky from inside the car. The weather was awfully nice for a day like that.

The following Monday she went to school like usual. After Happy left, she went straight to the library. She spent all day reading books and walked back school half an hour before school finish hour. She received a message from Happy during lunch that he would pick her up.

Climbed into the car, she mumbled a “Hi, Happy.” before shoving the earphone into her ears.

About fifteen minutes later, she broke the silence.

“Where are we going?”

She didn’t recognize the road. It wasn’t the way to the Tower or the apartment.

“We are heading to the supporting group. May and Tony didn’t tell you?”

“What?”

“The supporting group, kid. It’s a group to support people with mental problem after the reverse. People listen and share their problem to each other there.”

Penny felt sick. She wasn’t told about this. No one said anything to her. Wasn’t this something they should at least talk to her first?!

The supporting group that she was forced to join had about twenty people and one counselor. They sat around in a circle on plastic chairs in a white room. The color almost made Penny gag, it reminded her too much of the hospital room, something she didn’t have too much happy memories with. Everyone in the room had a grim expression, sadness and tiredness full on display on their faces. Penny looked down at her jeans, suddenly found it really interesting.

The counselor was a woman in her middle age. She had light brown hair and an encouraging smile on her face. She clapped her hands together and said.

“Hello everyone, my name is Lina Smith. I’m 48 years old and used to be a social worker. I’m your emotional counselor. Alright, let’s started our session now, shall we?”

With that, the session began. Ms. Smith called everyone in the circle, started from her left side. Those who were called would introduce themselves a bit before starting to talk about their problem. Most of them struggling for a bit before really share about what they were having to face with. After that they would talk about a possible solution or sharing some types of comforting words, then Ms. Smith would give them her advice.

It was a slow process, but when she was called, Penny couldn’t help but feel it was too fast.

“What your name, sweetie?” Ms. Smith asked.

“Penny, Penny Parker.”

“Alright, Penny. Can you talk about what is wrong with you? Everyone here have their problems, don’t worry. You can tell us.”

The counselor said encouragingly.

Penny swallowed. The thought of sharing her personal thing with this much stranger made she wanted to gag. She didn’t even talk about this with her aunt, why should she talk with them? But the girl still took a deep breath and started talking. She would try, at least for her mentor.

“When I came back, many things had changed. My aunt, she got married with another man. She sold our old home and moved in with him. Right now, I’m living with them in their apartment. My friends had become college students. And I, well, I just lost my internship.”

The boy next to her, who was around her age, scoffed.

“That’s all? That couldn’t be called a problem. You have a house to live in, your guardians still keep you and feed you. And I bet they also let you go to school, too. What are there to complain?! Your situation is so much better than all of us!”

There was a murmur of agreement around the circle. Penny stiffened. After listening to what the other had talked about, she guessed her situation was better than theirs. Many of them were homeless, they lost their houses, their jobs, money and even family. They were starved and had to live on the street or, if they are luckier, in the shelter. Compare to them, she shouldn’t have any problem. She was also a superhero after all. Penny shouldn’t have any problem with her new life.

She shouldn’t have.

Place to live, food to eat, being the most famous local hero. Even without the “local hero” part, Penny had been the lucky one. She shouldn’t demand more, it was greedy and selfish. It wasn’t a thing that good people do.

It wasn’t a thing that Spider Girl do.

Ms. Smith clapped her hands together to silent the room and started talking.

“Now, now. Everyone has their own problems. Don’t judge. Penny, dear, I know this maybe is a hard time for you but…”

The rest of what the woman said drowned with the loud thoughts in Penny’s head. To her it wasn’t something she really need to listen, it was all cliché anyway. She had been patient, she had tried, the problem was still there. And could it be called a problem anyway when there wasn’t really any problem after all?

Penny didn’t want to listen. She didn’t want to listen anymore. She didn’t want to listen to May saying that “We just want to help you, Penny.” . They had moved on, she was left behind. It was that easy to understand, nothing complicated.

It wasn’t their fault.

It wasn’t her fault.

It was no one’s fault.

No one.

Penny should have known better. Living people left the dead behind, no matter how much they had loved them. No matter how important they were to them. Move on and forget. That’s how people live. That’s why May threw her family pictures away, that’s why she gave her music box away.

May moved on and forget her. It just that simple.

That night, after locking her room door, she vomited into the toilet. She wasn’t sick, physically, no. But Penny guessed that her body had been so tired with all the emotional mess that it made her like that. She walked out of the bathroom and sat on the bed. Taking the picture of her and Ben from the nightstand, Penny felt bittersweet. She seemed to be so happy in the picture, smiling brightly at the camera while Ben held her in his arms. She clutched the frame closely to her chest and whispered to no one.

“I think I’m done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm scared to go outside right now, can't go anywhere without my bottle of hand washing liquid. I am a member of English club in my school (it's actually similar to Peter's Decathlon team) so I only have some online classes through computer. Most of my peers don't have any.   
> Writing this actually help me take my mind out of the deadly disease because of nCoV virus. I hope everyone will be okay. I'm not a Chinese or are staying in China but my country was very close to them.
> 
> Anyway, enough for my rambles. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hurt Penny again (oof!), but hopefully I won't need to do that anymore and we can have the fluff soon. Well, maybe, at least.
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think. Kudos are also very appriciated!  
> Keep yourself safe from the disease and the next chapter will be up soon!


	9. Why are you letting me fall again?

In the dark room, the beautiful sound from the music box echoed, cutting through the silence of night. The silver light of moon shined through her small bedroom window, making her uncle’s eyes sparkling in a strange way.

“Do you know what is the name of the song from the music box, Penny?”

Ben asked, his fingers traced the curved line of the pattern etched on the music box. He continued without waiting for any kind of proper respond.

“It’s from a movie, cartoon to be exact, called “Castle in the sky”.”

Then he turned to face her, his eyes looking straight at hers, his voice firm yet gentle.

“Always remember who you are, always believe, never losing hope and fight until the end. Don’t give up, and don’t forget.”

“…”

“I love you, Penny. To the very end.”

“Ben?”

Opening her eyes, light flooded in made she instinctively closed it. Seemed liked she forgot to close the window the previous night. Sitting up, she noticed the framed picture on her chest, she didn’t remember when, but she must have fallen asleep while looking at it.

Looking at the picture while putting it back to the nightstand, her heart ached. Ben was smiling so bright, so was her. They were so happy back then, if only they know what would happen…. Shaking her head, she remembered the dream last night. It was so fresh in her mind, so peaceful and full of love. It was a memory about Ben.

Don’t give up and don’t forget.

Maybe… that was what Ben was trying to tell her. Maybe… she should try again, should try to adapt to this new life with the others. Maybe, maybe she should try to do that.

She should, right Ben?

Changed out her rumpled shirt, Penny went to splat some water to wash her face. She felt so refresh after that, like a whole new person.

Opening her bedroom door and went to the kitchen, she found May was preparing breakfast. Truly smiling for the first time in days, she said to her aunt.

“Good morning, May.”

The older female looked up and smiled back.

“Good morning, Penny. You seem to be in a better mood than yesterday. Good sleep? Come on, sit down and eat. The eggs and toasts will get cold.”

They settled down and started eating breakfast. May asked her, seemed to be a little hesitant.

“Hey, Penny, I was just thinking… do you want to go shopping at the mall with me this Saturday? Just the two of us, you know, girls time.”

Penny nodded, completely agreed with her and May beamed at her, seemed to be so happy.

Yeah, maybe she really should try, huh?

That week Penny didn’t go to school, neither did she told anyone about the graduation. She figured while May would be pissed off, her aunt would also be very proud of her. Mr. Stark too, the man had always thought she should go straight to college or just stay at home and let him teach her himself. Penny always laughed at that idea, but thinking back now, she thought what the man said actually made sense, at least in some ways. Maybe she should ask him about teaching her after this.

Instead of going to school, she used the subway and go to farer libraries, May and Happy never suspected anything. Penny even went to some colleges, just to see, she didn’t decide anything yet.

Saturday came with Penny’s excitement, she went out for an early patrol before going to the mall on herself at about nine. She knew the address of the mall, knew the name of it, May had given her a note earlier. Penny did come back to the apartment but since she saw no one, she guessed her aunt had gone to the mall first.

She came to the front of the shopping mall and checking the time on her phone. Phew, only five minutes late. May hadn’t come yet, so it’s all good. Penny shot a text to her aunt, telling her that she was here and was waiting at the front. After that, she waited.

15 minutes passed… she didn’t see May, nor receiving any text. Huh, well, guessed she should wait a little more.

30 minutes passed… May was taking longer than she thought, maybe Penny should play some games on her phone.

1 hour passed… where was May? Why was she taking so long? Maybe because of traffic? Probably. Well, let’s text May again and wait a little more.

1 hour and 30 minutes… Penny’s feet were getting more than a little sore. Should she call May? Nah, her aunt would come soon. Be patient, Penny.

2 hours passed… May wasn’t forgetting her, right? She wouldn’t, May wouldn’t do that. Her aunt hadn’t text back yet. Was she okay? Penny should text her again, just to make sure.

2 hours and 30 minutes… May, where is she? Was she alright? Penny should call her, and maybe text Happy too.

3 hours passed…

Where was May? Where was her aunt? She had called her 27 times, sending countless messages, and received none back. She also tried to call Happy that made her lost track of time. How long had she been waiting? Maybe 3 hours. No, it was nearly 2 pm, that’s mean she had waited for like… 4 hours already. Oh, that’s why she felt so hungry and…dizzy. The weather was a little hot today.

So, the raised question was… where was May?

May wouldn’t forget this. She couldn’t. And she wouldn’t. She was Penny’s aunt, who had raised her since she was small, who had practically her mother. She wouldn’t forget. May wouldn’t.

With a shaking hand, Penny opened her phone, and after a deep calming breath, she said to it.

“Karen, can you track the location of May?”

“Of course, Penny.”

Replied the familiar voice of her AI. It was something she had managed to do it by herself, using the new lab that she was given. Mr. Stark showed her how to do it five years ago, before the snap, and she had to admitted that it came handy. Karen could use FRIDAY’s system and from that do so many amazing things. Tracking a random Starkphone was an example. Penny knew it was illegal but that was how Karen was tracked down May right now.

Penny was scared to know the answer. If there was something happened to her aunt, she wouldn’t know what to do. And if May forget their date, then…

Penny didn’t think she would be able to stand up again.

“Your aunt is at a coffee shop at the moment.”

“What is she doing there?”

“Let me hack the shop’s camera system.” A short pause, then “She seemed to be drinking coffee with Happy Hogan.”

And Penny bursted into tears.

She felt something inside her crumbled again. Something she had tried to build up from the scraps, piece by piece. And now it shattered. Again.

Why did May forget her? Why did May forget Penny? They had set out the plan and everything! Penny had been so excited. She had been so happy to spend more time with her aunt. She had been so hopeful to be happy again. She had been trying so hard to adapt. She had believed this was her new beginning.

Penny was still her niece, wasn’t she? She was still someone who had lived with her for 10 years. 10 years! They had always been there for each other, helping one another when Ben dead. And May had said she loved Penny, forever. Just like how Ben did. Then why? Why?!

_But May had lied to you, wasn’t she? She had lied to you and forgot you. She had thrown yours and Ben’s pictures away. She had thrown your music box away, and she knew how important it was to you. It wasn’t anything complicated, Penny. You are smart, you know it._

_May forget you._

_She didn’t love you anymore._

_But what are you expecting? It had been five years. She had moved on, just like your friends. She got a new niece to herself, wasn’t she? She got a new, perfect-in-every-way life. Until you came back. The reason why she was still here, was because she was kind, and she stuck with you._

_You are a burden, Penny._

_A true burden._

_You understand now?_

_Accept the truth, stop denying it! That wouldn’t make you any better! Accept it, Penny! Accept it!_

Penny walked back to the apartment, feeling so lonely. Sitting on the sofa, eating popcorn and watching TV while waiting for May and Happy come back, the teenage girl was drowned in the storm of emotions. She wasn’t sure if she was really watching TV at all.

Finally, the two came back, laughing loudly while entering the apartment. Seeing the girl, May greeted her.

“Hi, Penny! What did you do today? Not only watching TV, right?”

So, she really forgot. And here, Penny had hoped…

Instead of answering, she asked, not turning around.

“What did you guys do?”

“Oh, nothing much. We just go out a little. It’s a long time since our last date, you know.”

No, Penny didn’t know. She stood up and went to the kitchen to put the bowl into the sink.

“I’m going to my room. Call me if you need.”

And Penny left the room. When she came out for dinner, May was looking at her with guilty eyes from the dining table.

“Oh, I’m so, so sorry Penny. I didn’t mean to forget. We can do it next week, maybe?”

“It’s alright May. Let just eat.”

 _Lie. All were lies_.

Penny ignored May and Happy for the rest of the day.

The next morning, Happy drove her to the Tower, said Mr. Stark wanted her to meet someone. The drive was tense with silence. Happy finally broke it.

“Look, kid,” he sighed “don’t hate May, okay? She forgot, and I didn’t know that you two was planning to…. Just, look, kid, we aren’t in our best health anymore, sometimes we just forget…”

“I know, Happy, I know. I didn’t hate her.”

She cut him off and before the man could ask anything else, they had come to the Tower. Penny practically jumped out of the car and walked quickly to the elevator, not waited for Happy.

She soon arrived at the penthouse and saw her mentor sitting on the sofa in the luxury living room, waiting. In front of him was a plate of fruit, which was put on the glass table.

“Ah, Penny. You are here.”

Her mentor greeted her and Penny raised an eyebrow, sat down on the sofa while asking.

“Who am I going to meet? Morgan?”

“No, but you are going to meet her soon, just not today. She is out with Pepper and Nat. Maybe you should come here again sometime next week, how does that sound?”

“Sound great. But that didn’t answer my question.”

“You are going to meet him soon. Rhodey is bringing him here, need to take care of a small situation in the lobby. They…”

A ‘ding’ cut off his sentence and her mentor looked toward the elevator, where Rhodey was stepping out with another boy who had blond hair.

“Freaking finally! You took long enough!”

Mr. Stark stood up and walked toward the boy, gave him a hug while greeting him. Penny couldn’t stop her heart from slightly ached as she noticed that he didn’t even stand up or smiled when she came. She nodded in greeting with the colonel and pushed the feeling away. She should stop being stupid.

“Not everyone had to fly all over from Tennessee, old man!”

Tennessee? So that’s mean he is…

“Alright, time for introduction. Penny, this guy here is…”

“Harley Keener, the potatoes gun boy. I know, you told me he’s from Tennessee.” Penny cut Mr. Stark off and walked toward, offered a hand to the boy out to shake “Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Penny Parker.”

The boy raised an eyebrow before hesitantly shook her hand.

“Okay, but I still don’t know who you are.”

Ouch. That's hurt. Mr. Stark didn't mention her?

Rhodey coughed a little.

“Harley, Tony told you about her already. She is Spider Girl.”

Recognition flashed on Harley’s face and Penny had to bite her tongue and kept the bittersweet for herself. Her mentor did mention her, but only her alter ego. It's obvious that Penny Parker wasn't that important to Mr. Stark.

“Ohhhh. You are Spider Girl! Tony told me a lot about you. Oh God, what you did with the ferry incident was messy. Thought you would be smarter since Tony said you are a genius.”

The friendly smile slipped off her face. Penny clenched her jaw, fists curled to her side. Without any other word, she stormed out of the room and took the elevator to her lab. When she finally secured in her lab, she took in a deep breath and immediately regret what she just did.

That was rude. Penny knew it. But she was too angry, too tired to care. She told FRIDAY to told Mr. Stark that she was leaving and left in her suit. She wasn’t go to patrol. Instead, she went to Ben’s grave.

The last time she visited here had been five years ago, many things had changed. Her uncle’s grave was dustier and older. The words carved on it faded a little bit.

Penny sat in front of the grave in silence for a moment before she received a message on her phone. It was from Mr. Stark.

“Sorry about Harley, kid. He was a bit rude. The brat doesn’t know how to talk with girls. And about the meeting with Morgan, maybe we should postpone it a little? Until you feel better, less moody. How does that sound, Underoos?”

She sighed. Mr. Stark didn’t trust her to be with his daughter. He was right. She was supposed to have better control over her emotions, not snapping like that. She was Spider Girl, the crime fighting vigilant with super power, who had to face with a bunch of thief and robbers with stupid mouth every day, for God’s sake! She was supposed be better at suppress her anger. She was supposed to be better. Now, she lost Mr. Stark’s trust again.

“I don’t think I can continue anymore, Ben. I’m sorry. I’ve tried”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess that's the last emotional torture. Maybe. I hope so.  
> There isn't much thing in this chapter, but I'm so excited to write fluff so... I'm speeding it up. We still have a long way to go 'til then though.  
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think. Kudos are also very appriciated!


	10. Leaving (Part 1)

Penny wondered if it was because of sunset or it just her that everything seemed to be so gloomy. The street, the shops, even the sound of children’s laugh made she feel sadder and sadder. She kept walking and walking, not really had any specific destination. That was until a familiar voice cut through her chain of thoughts.

“Penny, Penny! Is that you?”

She turned around to see who was calling her and her jaw dropped. Standing there, on the street, slightly out of breath after trying to catch up with her was her old best friend, Ned. He was taller, and slimmer, more well-built. He wasn’t buff but he surely looked more handsome.

“…Ned?”

The man let out a breathy laugh and walked toward her.

“I know it was you, Pen. Cannot mistaken you with someone else. It had been a long time, what are you doing here?”

That when Penny realized where she was. She was in her old neighborhood, her old home was only about two blocks away. It seemed like muscle memory had carried herself here.

“Oh,…uh, I am just going out for a walk. I didn’t realize that I was heading here, must have been lost in my thought.”

Ned nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I know, sometimes we just do that.” Then suddenly his smile fell, and he had this guilty look on his face “Look, I’m…really sorry.”

“What?” Penny was taken back.

“I’m sorry for the last phone call. I know I was being very rude to you, and since you just came back, I obviously had hurt your feeling. I was irritated, my brother just screamed at me through the phone, he wanted me to come back immediately, which I couldn’t because of my college works. But anyway, it wasn’t an excuse to hurt your feeling and I know that it may has been too late, but I still need to say this. I’m so sorry.”

Penny blinked her eyes slowly, for a moment she was speechless. She obviously wasn’t expecting a genuine apologize.

“Uh, it’s okay. I didn’t mind it anymore. And you didn’t mean to do it anyway.”

Ned gave her a smile at that, guilty still filled his eyes. He gestured to a bench near them and asked.

“Do you mind if we sit there and talk for a bit?”

She nodded and went to sit on the bench while Ned came to a vending machine and bought something. Now that she had time to look at her old friend closer, she realized more about the change.

He wasn’t a boy anymore, obviously he wasn’t, he was 20 after all. He looked more mature and seemed a little…off. He wasn’t as cheerful as she remembered. His eyes had lost the familiar sparkle. His entire posture seemed to be more than just a little tense, liked he was constantly worrying about some problems. There wasn’t any carefree attitude left.

He had changed, a lot.

Penny realized that fact, feeling very bitter.

Ned came back with a two cans of soda in his hands, he gave Penny the strawberry one before opening his lemon one. Penny hesitated for a bit before opening her soda can and took a sip out of it.

“You still remember.”

She said, almost whispered, broke the silence. Ned just smiled, sadness etched on his smile.

“Yeah…How can I forget? The first time we met, also like this.”

The first time they met…Ned and Penny were eight at that time. They were in the same class but didn’t talk to each other, at least until that day. It was a summer day, the weather was hot. Penny was reading a book on a bench in the playground when she heard a loud cry. Two older boys were laughing at a trembling boy on the playground, Penny immediately stood up and ran toward them.

“Hey! What are you doing? Are you bullying him?”

She snapped at the two older boys who just sneered at her before walking away. Turned around to the boy who was on the ground, Penny crouched down and gave him a friendly smile.

“Hello, my name is Penny. What’s your name? You are in the same class as mine, right?”

The boy stopped crying and looked at her before nodded.

“My name is Ned, and yeah, we are in the same class.”

“Are you hurt? Let’s help you stand up, shall we? You will get dirty.”

She then offered him a hand and both of them stood up. Ned wasn’t hurt, the two kids found a bench under a tree shadow to sit. Penny went to bought two cans of soda for both of them with the money that Ben just gave her earlier.

“You like strawberry flavor?”

Ned asked her and Penny nodded.

“Yes! It’s my favorite! What about you? Do you like that lemon flavor?”

“Yes, I love it.” Ned paused before asking “Do you like legos?”

Penny beamed at him.

That was how the two of them become best friends. It once was Penny’s favorite memory, but now, she only felt bitter about it.

“How was you? I mean these five years?”

Penny asked Ned. The young man smiled sadly.

“It…wasn’t good at first. My mom disappeared, and you too. And many people did. I still went to school, but it was so empty without you there, Penny. I and MJ stopped talking to each other. We…communicated, but didn’t talk. It was hard. There was suddenly empty space around me. Everyone mourned, and then moved on. I took more time than them. I still hoped that you would come back, up until 2 years before, when I graduated high school.”

Ned stopped to take a deep breath and Penny could see the pain in his eyes.

“I know 3 years maybe too long, but, it just…the Avengers had always created miracles before so, I still hoped. And it was also because you had gone too fast, too sudden…and it was so hard to believe. So I waited and hoped and then,…I moved on. I thought you would have like it, you know. So I seek for a new beginning when I started college. Then you and everyone came back.”

“…Oh.”

“So how about you? Are you adjusting well with the new life? I knew May had got married again.”

“It just…hard, I guess. I don’t really know what to do.”

“Well, a new beginning had never been easy, but try to consider it.”

Ned said and stood up, grinning when he lent her a hand to help her stand up.

“I know that our lives are pretty separated right now, but, I don’t want our friendship end up broken like this. Can we meet again sometimes?”

Penny smiled and nodded, the young man then held out his pinky to her. It felt like she just traveled back to her childhood.

“Pinky promise?”

“…Pinky promise.”

With that promise, their short talk ended. Penny walked back to the apartment, which was pretty far away, but she took it as an advantage to have more time to think.

May and the others…they had a new beginning. They did love her, she knew, but that could just be something happened five years ago. They mourned, then they moved on and started to forget. Everyone did that, if it was her, Penny would also do that too. The only way to precious your beloved people, when they’re gone, was to live your own life. You need to move on, even if it hurt, you need to do it to continue with your life. If you waste your life, then you are disrespect with your beloved dead person.

That what uncle Ben had told her when she was small. They were at her parents’s funeral, and Penny remembered that Ben had gripped her hand so tightly that it almost hurt. He told her that when they were watching the coffins being put into the pit. Penny was too small to understand what he said back then, but now, when she had been older, experienced more, she could finally grasp her mind around those words. May and the others…they done right, they did what they had to, and Penny couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t their faults.

Maybe, Penny should consider about a new beginning too. Maybe she should go somewhere else, where she wouldn’t have to be the other’s burden. Where she could really breath and live.

But,… go where?

Go where…she didn’t know. But she was young, right? She was smart, she was strong, she was Spider Girl after all. Surely she could figure it out.

She could find out where she really belongs to.

But the others, they surely wouldn’t let her to do it. To them, she was still a child. So this meant she had to figure out how to go.

Came to think of it, it wasn’t really that hard.

Penny was still hesitated.

She thought she wanted to go, there wasn’t anything that could possibly held her back. That was a lie.

Whenever she thought about leaving, her mind drifted to her mentor. She still loved the man like her own father. Leaving meant never have a chance to meet Mr. Stark again.

So while she was already start forming a plan to leave, she was still hesitated.

The lab that Mr. Stark gave her was much more useful than she thought at first. Because it was her lab, Mr. Stark wasn’t there to monitor her or really knew about what she was working on. She took this as her own advantage.

She had recently worked on a pair of contacts. Not normal contacts of course. It was a pair of contact that could control the level of sunlight, it had always annoyed Penny that her enhanced vision made she get some problems when she was outside the suit in a sunny day. But what was the most important thing was…its ability to connect with Karen. Penny had saw a prototype of Mr. Stark’s special glasses, she had been so amazed with it. It could be so useful in many situations, she had wear Mr. Stark’s glasses before, only once though. Her mentor had let her test it and it was so freaking cool. With that glasses, she could order FRIDAY to do practically anything she want.

Of course, Karen wasn’t that advanced, and her main protocol was to help Mr. Stark keeping track on her, so Penny did a number of things on her coding. She changed her main protocol along with some few others stuffs so her mentor couldn’t figure out her location through her AI. Along with that, she upgraded Karen and may or may not, had created some kind of back door to FRIDAY’s server, which meant Penny was able to use FRIDAY to her advantage without her mentor’s acknowledge. Mr. Stark of course didn’t teach Penny anything of this, but her mind wasn’t praised as genius level intellect for nothing. Her mentor always said that she was smart but the genius himself wasn’t aware of the true extent of her ability.

That’s why, here was she, testing the back door program that had just been installed into Karen’s system.

“Alright, let’s try it.” Penny muttered to herself “Karen, please get into Mr. Stark’s personal files.”

Yes, she did realize what she was doing was wrong. She shouldn’t try to get into her mentor’s personal files by any means, but this was the best way to test the extent of her new program. She needed to know what it capable to do.

A holo-screen appeared in front of Penny. On it, there were countless files labeled differently that she didn’t have any chance to see before. She glanced through them all, not really interested in opening any of them, she didn’t intend to do it anyway. That was until her eyes caught a file name “Spider suits”.

Curious to what was in the file, she tapped her finger on it. Inside, there was at least 52 different designs for Spider Girls suits, most of them Penny hadn’t seen before. Her lips curled into a small smile and she opened one of them. Penny had created her own suit with Mr. Stark in the lab before, they discussed and wrote out ideas, it had always been the teenage girl favorite activity. But she never saw a completed design, she didn’t ask about that, the two of them only worked on some certain parts of the suit together. At first, she took in every details of the new suit with excitement, she loved its appearance and the new functions. Then, her eyes caught on something that her smile slipped from her face. She frowned.

There was a kind of circuit in the suit that its main function seemed to be turning off the suit when Mr. Stark want. It’s like a remote control. She could be stuck in the suit if her mentor turn it off.

“Karen? Do all these designs of the new suits have this turn off protocol?”

She asked, fingers zoomed the special circuit. After a moment, her AI replied.

“Yes, they do. It also seemed that both your old and current suit have this function too.”

Penny was taken back at that, and before she could ask, Karen pulled up on the screen the designs of her suits. And the girl realized that her AI was right.

Penny didn’t understand. Did her mentor did not believe her? She understood that he couldn’t trust her when they had first met and that why he needed to include that part of the designs. But after all those time spending time with each other, she thought that her mentor had finally trust her. And if he did, why didn’t he stop including it? Turning off the suit while she was in it meant that Penny couldn’t do anything, she couldn’t even see through the lens, she would be stuck in the suit, almost completely useless. Why did he do that if he trusted her? Because if he did, then there wasn’t any reason for why he kept a protocol that practically used to trap her.

She came back to the main screen of Mr. Stark’s personal server, wanted to find an answer or an assurance. She needed to know that her mentor trusted her. She accidentally opened a file named “Siberia” in the process. That was when shit hit the fan.

Looking at the fighting scene on the hologram screen in front of her, she felt like she was choked. She couldn’t breathe, tears kept falling down on her face. Small sobs mixed with the screams that she tried to held back create a sound almost like wailing. She couldn’t keep looking at the screen any more, she shut her eyes tightly, her hands covered her ears to try blocking out the horrific sound of the fight, but with her enhanced hearing, it was useless.

She had thought Mr. Stark believed in her. She had thought that the man trusted her. Penny had thought so and she had trusted the man with her life. She had idolized him, trusted him, he was her hero. She had loved him, looked up at him liked he was her father. The father that she could never have the chance to have. Hell, she even felt so jealous with his daughter, an innocence, lovely, adorable little girl.

He didn’t trust Penny. He didn’t tell what had happened to him in Siberia, she didn’t even know that he went there. He had kept the shutting down protocol in every designs of her suits. Was that because he worried that Penny would someday betrayed him and he need to capture her? Probably, Penny couldn’t find any other reasons for why he did it.

Mr. Stark didn’t trust Penny.

Her mentor, no, her father figure didn’t trust her.

May lied to her. The adults lied to her. They moved on. They didn’t need her any more. There wasn’t any reason for her to stay here anymore.

She wasn’t belonged here. She wasn’t a part of May’s or Mr. Stark’s family. This wasn’t her family.

She really needed to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, the first part is going to end soon. Many of you may have noticed that this had been made into a part of a series. I have actually intended to do a separated part about the five years time when Penny was still dusted. It will be included the story of the music box, which many of you had asked about whom May had given it to. I will start to work on it soon.  
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter (to be honest, I feel like crapt when I was writing it, there wasn't much thing in it. Lack of emotions, I think so).
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think about it. Kudos are also appriciated!


	11. Leaving (part 2)

The plan was simple, at least to Penny.

Since she had to ‘run away’ from Tony Stark, who owned a super intelligent AI that could found her within a few hours at most through the satellite system or traffic cameras and a bunch of other things, FRIDAY, she need a new identity. And a new appearance.

Appearance, well, that was the hard one. FRIDAY could identify her everywhere she went, so Penny changed the AI’s coding. She had already been in the system so it kinda easier. To not make her mentor suspect anything with the code, she only fixed a little here and there, enough to make FRIDAY not recognize her with a different eyes color.

Eyes color. She had changed her design of the lens with a different color, which was easy by all means with the equipment she was given along with the lab. This meant, whenever she wore the lens, FRIDAY couldn’t recognize her. Mr. Stark wouldn’t be able to find her through FRIDAY, the only way for him to know her location was to see her in person. Penny’s run away plan would success if she hide well enough.

After taking care of the hardest part, she decided to go change her hair style. It would be too risky if she only changed her eyes color, the other would recognize her after a single glance. Dying her hair into blonde and straightened them was a wonderful idea.

With her new identity, Penny hacked into the government’s database. It was easy considering it had been overwhelmed after so many people were revived. She created a new profile, with a whole new background, she even made a fake health profile. The last thing she needed was a picture to insert into the profile, which she would take after changing her hair style and put on the special contacts.

After that, she would become a whole new person. She would become “Penelope Mary Parker”.

Her original name was Penny May Parker, which, from her opinion, wasn’t too much different from her fake name. It was just… she couldn’t give up her family name, she had already been the last member of the Parker family. May had got married, so she was no longer a ‘Parker’, she was a ‘Hogan’. She took her mother’s name as her middle name as an effort to move on, to forget what happened between her and her aunt. And Penelope… it was different from ‘Penny’, but she could still use her original one as an endearing name, furthermore, she liked that name. It had a nice ring in her ears.

The rest was easy to take care of. All left was when she did it.

She chose the following Friday after the incident with Keener at the Tower to get her plan in action.

She left the apartment, where she had never once called as ‘home’ before, like normal. She took her backpack with her, stuffed with papers for graduation and a string bag with some clothes and minimum necessities. May and Happy didn’t suspect anything as they thought she only went to school like normal.

Penny caught a train and arrived at school for her graduation papers. Since the incident with May about their girls time, the idea of asking May to sign the papers had been thrown into the dustbin. She easily faked her aunt’s signature with a small tip that MJ had taught her a long time before. She used a simple LED tracing light board that she created in the lab. Penny knew that was kinda useless to do this, considering that she was going to give up her identity, but she felt guilty as she wrote in her fake profile about her education status that she had graduated high school, so she decided to be truthful a bit.

Penny went straight to the principal’s office, hoping to get this done soon.

Mr. Morita was waiting in the office after his secretary came in to announce her arrival. The man smiled as he saw her.

“Good morning, Ms. Parker. Do you bring all the papers with you?”

The young girl nodded, pulled out from her backpack a zipper bag filled with signed papers. She handed it to the principal, feeling so worried. What if he recognized it was fake?

“Here are they, sir.”

After a moment of silence while the man checked through the papers, principle Morita finally said.

“Alright. It seem like that is enough. Let me take your graduation papers out.”

Penny silently sighed in relief as the man handed her a clear bag.

“Inside is your high school diploma, transcripts and some others that you will need for your college application.”

“Thank you”

The teenage girl said as she took the bag. She said her goodbye to the principle and was going to leave the office when the man spoke up again.

“I wish you luck and success will always follow you in the future.”

It made her teared up a bit as she turned back and said.

“Thank you sir”

Future… it had always seemed to be something so far away to her before the whole snap. But now, it was so close. So close that made her feel afraid, but at the same time made her feel exciting. She was going to have a new life. Another chance.

Hopefully luck would follow Penny this time like how Mr. Morita had wished her.

As she was approaching the school building exit, Penny fished her phone out of her pocket, quickly typed some orders on the screen for Karen. She couldn’t let Mr. Stark figured out the time when she left school. After her AI confirmed that all the camera had been moved, created enough time and space for her to go out without being noticed by them, Penny went out, heading to the hair salon.

Lucky for her, the hair salon that she had choose was crowded, which meant the chance of the hair dresser would remember her face would be lower.

It took Penny hours until her hair was done. The teenage girl never really minded too much about her appearance, but she was still a girl. The result of changing her hair style satisfied her. She looked more mature and beautiful with the new hair. Her hair was now golden, wavy and curled a little in the end. After putting on her blue lens, she would look even more different.

After asking the hair dresser if the hair salon had any toilet, which she received a ‘yes’ as an answer, she went to change her clothes. If she continue to wear like this, there would be still chance that she could be recognized through the camera system just by her clothes, and she couldn’t keep asking Karen to use the Blind protocol.

The Blind protocol gave her the power to moved cameras direction or black them out. But she couldn’t do that for long, it would raise too much suspicion.

After changing into a new denim jacket and a pair of black pants, she put on the sunglasses and pink lipstick before leaving the hair salon. She easily joined the people who was walking on the crowded road. No one could possibly recognize her when she was wearing like that.

She went to the ATM and withdraw one thousand dollars. She knew it was a huge amount of money but she hadn’t had a job yet. And to be honest, she didn’t where she would go, what she would do, where she would stay after she left. That really made her scared, but she didn’t really have any other options.

The black card that she used to withdraw money was given to her by Mr. Stark. For emergencies only. At first, the card only had three million dollars in it, but after the Avengers saved the world, Penny, as Spider Girl, received twelve million dollars for her assistant in the last battle. The money was transfer to her through Mr. Stark from a bunch of super rich people and some organizations. She didn’t like receiving money for it, considering the fact that she didn’t feel like she had done anything useful or that wasn’t the reason why she started her superhero business. But Mrs. Stark had insisted and you could never be able to say no to Pepper Potts-Stark when she was being persistent.

So far, Penny had never used the card. Not even once. That is…until now.

She wasn’t going to bring the card with her, of course. So the money that she just withdrew would be all she was going to have.

After that she patrolled like normal as she didn’t want the adults to suspect anything too soon. Spider Girl had done a pretty good job that day. And that was another problem. She knew if she was leaving, she couldn’t continue her work as Spider Girl anymore. Her fighting style and the way she swung around the city was too easy to recognize.

Spider Girl had been a big part of her life. A part that Penny was proud of. Because when she was being Spider Girl, she became a hero who saved lives, who helped people, who did good thing. Spider Girl was quick, smart, powerful, witty and brave. She inspired people to do good things and everyone loved her.

Spider Girl was opposite to Penny Parker, she was kind and wise. Penny Parker was a greedy girl, who always wanted something that didn’t belong to her, who could jealous with a little innocent girl. She was a pathetic girl who got no one left that could love her. Her existence was a huge burden in everyone who surrounded her.

That why she felt so shameful about Penny Parker, yet so proud of Spider Girl. They were just too different from each other.

She wished to keep being Spider Girl, although she didn’t sure how. Just like she didn’t sure about her new life as Penelope Mary Parker. But she could figure it out, surely she could. She was smart, all she need was some time to think. And maybe some experience too.

Penny shot a text to her aunt, telling her that she wasn’t going to come home for dinner. She was going to eat at a small restaurant. She changed into her civilian clothes and went to a cheap restaurant that Karen suggested. Her aunt had gave her 15 dollars for lunch but she hadn’t eat yet, so she could use it. While she was waiting for the roasted chicken that she had ordered, she received a reply from May.

As her finger hovering above the message app button, she was teared between mixed feelings. A part of her wished May would ask her why she ate out, while the other just wanted May to agreed.

May only sent a simple text, really simple.

“okay.”

That’s all. Nothing else. No question. No telling her to come back soon.

The roasted chicken was very well seasoned. But it tasted like ashes in Penny’s mouth. If it was May of five years ago, the woman would never let her to do that. She would call, would question, would tell her to come back to have dinner with her. She never felt comfortable enough to let Penny eating out, at least without an adult. Not after Ben was shot. But now, she didn’t care. And that was the worst.

After dinner, she headed to the Tower in her Spider Girl suit. She easily slipped into her lab through one of the window that FRIDAY opened for her. She took a picture if her face then insert a photo into the fake profile. After a few typing, Penelope Mary Parker was officially existed.

She was now an 18 years old girl who had graduated high school one year earlier, parents died in a car crash, no relatives.

After that was taking care of, she slipped her mask back on and went to grab a suitcase. The suitcase was stuffed with pills that was made specifically for Spider Girl, and some modern gadgets that she had been working on. She got the suitcase to a secured location before going back to the Tower again.

She deleted some files about her projects that related heavily on her running plan and download the new upgrade to Karen. She took out the string bag from her backpack and when she was going to take off the suit, Mr. Stark appeared in the door way of the lab.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

He asked, an eyebrow raised. She smiled under her mask at him.

“Just taking something I need. Nothing much.”

“Oh. Have you had your dinner yet? Wouldn’t May be angry if you skip your meal?”

“I already ate.”

“Huh? That’s good then. When are you going to leave?”

“…soon.”

The man just nodded before turning around to leave. Penny screamed internally.

_Mr. Stark! Please don’t let me go! Please!_

_Please say something! Please stop me!_

_Please, I don’t wanna go! Please don’t let me go!_

Penny wished the man had turned back to say something, to stop her. She knew it was stupid. She knew he wouldn’t turn back. She knew that it was her who decided to leave.

If Mr. Stark had turned back that night, maybe Penny would have stay.

“Mr. Stark?”

She called and the man stopped dead in his track, looked back at her.

“Goodbye.”

“Yeah, goodbye to you too, kid.”

And he left.

Penny took off her suit, folded it neatly before putting it on the table. She grab a piece of paper and a black pen, unsure what to say. Finally, she wrote.

“Thank you, and goodbye. I’m glad we could move on.”

She wished she could write more, but she just couldn’t. She put the paper on the suit, grabbed her string bag and left the room, going to the elevator.

She turned on her phone and started to order Karen.

“Karen, please give me the visual of Mr. Stark.”

The sigh of her mentor and his daughter appeared on her phone screen. Mr. Stark was kissing Morgan on the forehead, who was being tucked in her bed, his expression soft. Her heart shattered.

**They will be find even without me.**

She walked out of the Tower, eyes still locked on the scene of her phone. Tears slipped down on her cheeks.

“Karen, please delete any footage of me inside the Tower today.”

“…Already done, Penny.”

“Call me Penelope.”

“Alright, Penelope.”

Penelope turned off her phone, put it back to her pocket before disappearing into the darkness of New York streets at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long break. I'm having a little problem recently so it cost me more time than usual to update.  
> Anyway, enjoy the new chapter! I will update again as soon as I can.
> 
> Pls, pls comment! Kudos are also appreciated!


	12. When the last piece of past shattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I add some tags, can you guess what will happen in this story?  
> Enjoy this chapter!

Penny was woken up by what probably the first light of the day.

Because of the spider sense, she had always been a light sleeper. And New York never give a homeless spider teenage girl who couldn’t thermoregulate well a good night sleep any way.

She had wandered on the streets until one in the morning, when her denim couldn’t protect her from the cold of the night anymore. She was shivering when Karen, the true angel, told her about an empty house near her. The house was just finished, and there wasn’t anything excluding concrete walls, not even a window. It was cold but it better than sleeping outside on the street, where she could turn into a spider-cicle.

Cracked her eyes open, she shivered, tried to make her body small enough for her small blanket, which was actually made of her coats, she only brought 2 coats with her. She blinked a few times to make the sleepiness go away before sitting and sighed.

“Karen, what time is it?”

The friendly voice of her AI replied her from her phone, echoed in the empty house.

“It’s five fifty in the morning. Good morning, Penny. I hope you had at least some rest.”

“Good morning to you too, Karen. And yeah, I did sleep, only feel a little backache, that’s all.”

“The concrete surface will make you like that. Do you want me to suggest some exercises that help ease the pain? Also, I suggest that you should leave the building and go to have an early breakfast if you don’t want to do exercise before going to a public shower.”

Huh? Right, she hadn’t had a bath yet, and even when she was homeless like this, she didn’t want to smell. Public bathroom was a good choice.

Standing up, Penny…no, Penelope stretched her body and yawned before turning back to pick up her coats from the concrete floor. She shoved one of them into the string bag while put on the other one. The teenage girl took all her money out of the bag and put it into her socks to avoid being robbed. She swung the bag over her shoulder and jumped out from the empty window of the room. The cool air of early morning hit her and she shivered. She slowly climbed down of the house.

The street was still quite dark at the time, there was no one out in the street. Walking on the empty street alone was a new experience to her. As Spider Girl, she was no stranger to dark, empty roads or valleys. But then, she often swung from building to building, never walked on the ground unless she need to escort someone home. She knew she wasn’t different from a normal defenseless girl, who was the easy target of the robbers, so she didn’t take out her expensive Starkphone to ask Karen for direction to the closest public bathroom. Instead of it, she raised her left wrist which was wearing a watch close to her mouth and whispered in it.

“Karen, please tell me the way to the closest bathroom.”

A small red arrow appeared on the screen, showed her the way. The watch was designed and made by Penny, she made the first prototype of it five years ago on her own. It was even more useful after she linked Karen with it.

Penelope quickly found the bathroom. She used the toilet then went to wash her hands and splashed the water onto her face. She then left the bathroom and jogged to a cheap restaurant for an early breakfast.

As she biting into her waffle, she blinked quickly, tried to push the sleepiness away. She wasn’t used to getting up this early in the morning, and sleeping on the concrete floor while shivering from cold didn’t give her that much rest. With only 1000 dollars in her hands, Penelope wasn’t going to last long in New York, not without a job. So before she could get some work that could pay her properly, she needed to save as much money as she could. Nutrition and hygiene were her top priorities so she wasn’t going to rent a room in a hotel or something like that. She would only spend money for foods, water and public shower. If she could use money smartly, she could last for a good amount of time without a job.

After she finished drinking her glass of water, Penelope took her phone out and ordered her AI.

“Please search a job for me that fits with my current profile.”

“Certainly, Penelope. It would take about a day to do so as the list is long.”

“Thank you, Karen.”

Karen was truly her greatest savior. She couldn’t imagine what she would do without her dear AI. She could make a wild guess about that and say that wouldn’t end well for her.

She went to the public bathroom after that. Knowing that she needed to save money, she tried to wash herself as good as she could, since she would only take a bath once every two days. Moving across the city on foot took her hours, so when she finished taking a bath, it was nine forty-five.

She walked out of the public shower and quickly joined with other people on the busy streets, feeling satisfied with the bath. That was when she sensed something.

It wasn’t something dangerous or at least her sense said so, but it was watching her, even if it were only for a moment. She quickly looked around and gasped when she saw it, people surround her had the similar expression.

On the air, flying above everyone else was a _drone_. A drone, a very modern one with black letters on its side, saying “Stark Industry”. And shit, if that didn’t make Penelope’s heart dropped right away. The drone flied with a normal speed while spinning around slowly, scanning, seemed to try to find something, or _someone_. Fuck, she thought she had an idea about that.

Penelope held her breath as the drone moved near her then flied past her without stopping. She took her phone out with one of her shaking hand, typing maniac on the screen without really looking at it.

“Karen! What is that?”

With a ‘ding’, her AI replied with a text on the screen.

“I don’t understand, Penelope. You need to clarify your question. What is ‘what’?”

“The flying drone! Is that what Mr. Stark sent out to find me?”

“I cannot answer the question without using the ‘back door protocol’. Granted the permission to activate it?”

“Granted.”

She quickly replied, feeling anxious than ever while Karen processing the data. Her AI only used about two minutes, but to her, it was like eternity, especially when she could still see the drone.

“From FRIDAY’s data history, it seemed like Mr. Stark had started searching for you from two thirty-four in the morning. He had used the camera system and satellite before sending out order to his drones about fifteen minutes ago. He also seemed to had tried to use the trackers on your technological devices and reached out for me. Obviously, this attempt had failed.”

“So, he hasn’t find out about our ‘back door’ or the change in FRIDAY’s system coding?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Penelope let out the breath that she had been holding. It was a great new that Mr. Stark hadn’t found out anything yet, but she was really shocked. Not in a million years that she would think the man would send out flying drones to search for her. He had always said that the Avengers actually did more missions than the number that the public knew of. Most of them were very dangerous and some were actually in big cities of America. They tried their best not to cause so much commotion to people and finished their missions in silence. And now, just because he tried to find Penny that he had used flying drones, which would obviously make people question. Penelope couldn’t help but feel worried that sooner or later, the man would also call in the Avengers, which made everything harder for her.

The teenage girl tried to remain calm after Karen informed her that there were 114 drones flying around New York to search for her. The map that her AI had set up to show their locations made Penelope shivered as she looked at countless red dots. If she hadn’t changed FRIDAY’s code, she wouldn’t be able to last that long. And that raised another problem. She still wanted to continue her superhero business, but how could she do it if there were drones all around the city? But she quickly dismissed the thought as she knew that she was having a bunch of other problems.

Her Spider sense was the worst thing at that time. It told her every times there was a drone approach, which was constantly. It made her really tired. So, she had asked her dear AI to find a place where the drone wouldn’t be there anymore by the time she reached the place.

With her famous Parker’s luck, she really should have think twice before going to George Washington Bridge.

True to Karen’s calculation, when she reached the bridge, there wasn’t any flying drone around. She sighed in relief as her Spider sense finally quiet down. The wind blowing made she relax and she took off her coat. She hung it on the railing as she used her hands to tie up her hair. Wave of sadness washed over her again as she eyeing the coat carefully. It was a present from May, a grey coat with her name sewed in yellow thread, simple though full of love as the coat was made by May herself. One of the few things that May didn’t throw away or kept in the storage. And Penelope couldn’t leave it behind.

Even if May had lied to her, even if she didn’t love her anymore, the woman was still the only mother figure that Penny had for years. And she loved her, still loved even then.

A loud metallic noise cut through Penelope’s short moment of piece. She turned around and her heart almost dropped from what she saw.

A woman in her twenties was outside the railing of the bridge. How did she even manage to climb out of that high railing was unknown to her at that moment, and it wasn’t like she wanted to know anyway. It didn’t take a person with a genius level of intellect like Penelope to realize what that woman wanted to do.

For a few seconds, she panicked internally. Then, she calmed down as she took a few deep breaths.

_Calm down, you are Spider Girl. You could save her. You have to._

“Hey, what are you doing out there?”

She asked, her voice shakier than she had hoped. The woman turned around and Penelope’s heart dropped. There wasn’t anything lively in that woman eyes. It was so dull and so sad, so…hopeless.

“Why do you ask? You clearly know the answer.”

The woman said and she gulped nervously as she continued. _She couldn’t fail. She was Spider Girl_.

“What’s your name?”

_She needed to save her._

“Does that even matter?”

_Spider Girl saves people. People trust Spider Girl._

“Then can I know why you want to do it?”

  
_Spider Girl couldn’t fail. She couldn’t fail._

“…I was snapped. When I came back, I lost everything.”

Penelope’s eyes widened as she stared at the woman but that person didn’t care.

“I had a kid. A sweet boy. After my fiancée passed away, he was everything to me. I didn’t have a stable job, my income wasn’t enough to rent a house for the two of us. My younger sister let me in. She let me live with her. Everything was nice for a while…. Then, the snap happened.”

Penelope then knew what would happen, she swallowed hardly.

“Then, I came back. My sister let another family adopted my son. He didn’t recognize me anymore and they said the adoption couldn’t be reversed. My sister got married and refused to let me live with her. I lost the job that I had tried so hard to keep. No one wants to hire me. I’m homeless,…and had lost everything. I wish I could have my son back but I don’t stand a chance of it.”

The woman then turned back, looking directly at her and said in a whispered tone.

“Tell me, girl. How could I continue my life?”

_Penelope didn’t know the answer. Spider Girl didn’t know the answer._

“The Avengers, the superheroes save so many lives. But they couldn’t save me.”

She didn’t know what to say, she just stared at the woman in silence.

“There is no hope for a person like me.”

“There…I Think there is still hope, for you. For us.”

The teenage girl finally stuttered out something, desperately wanted to save the woman who was standing in front of her.

“…. Maybe. But I’m too tired to see it. Girl, promise me this, you will show me the hope that you had said about.”

Then, in front of Penelope’s eyes, she jumped of the bridge. On instinct, the teenage girl ran toward that woman’s old position, her coat fell off the railing into the cold water.

Along with the now dead woman.

Penelope collapsed, she started gasping for air. It was like she was being choked like someone. She couldn’t breathe, her lungs refused to let the air in. Tears stung in her eyes made everything blurred.

The woman was dead. She was dead, because she couldn’t save her. Because Spider Girl couldn’t save her.

Spider Girl didn’t deserve people trust. She had failed them, she had failed the woman. Penelope’s greatest fear had come true.

She couldn’t continue this anymore. How could she continue being Spider Girl if she let people die like that? How many more lives that wouldn’t be saved because Spider Girl couldn’t save them? Because she couldn’t do that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update (again). I will try to update more this week since this would be the last week before I go to school again. After this week, there will be a long break for this story since there is mid-term tests.  
> The great new is we finally get to the next phase of this story and we will soon see how it go with Tony's or May's POV.
> 
> Thank you for reading, the next chapter will be updated soon!  
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also appriciated!


	13. First lights of hope.

The next two days of Penelope were awful. Karen hadn’t found any job that she deemed as fit with her, so she just continued wandering around the city while her AI kept doing her scanning. To be fair, Penelope was quite surprised to learn about the number of available jobs in New York. With all the homeless and unemployed people that she had saw when she was still doing her patrol as Spider Girl, she thought there would be much less. Apparently she was wrong about that. Hah! A new thing that she had learned from this journey.

She ate the cheapest foods that she could bought, either from the convenient stores or small restaurants, she didn’t care as long as it was something she could swallow, and she would say that her current situation was much better than many other people. She had saw kids who had to find foods from trash to eat. She used the laundry service to wash her clothes and went to the public shower to take baths once every two days. She slept in abandoned or unfinished houses to save money. Penelope was proud that she could say she was doing a pretty good job at saving money that could help her last for another three weeks without a job.

But the bad thing was the constant nightmares. Sleeping in concrete floor without a blanket that could keep you warm enough was hard, and it was even worse when there were nightmares. She kept dreaming about the woman when she jumped off the bridge and then a bunch of other things would come back to hunt her as well. Like when her uncle was shot, when she was dusting in her mentor’s arms or the last battle, or Toomes.

She could barely get some rest every night and her eyes started to get sour after taking not enough sleep. A black circle started to form around her eyes, her movements were slower and her Spider Sense was dulled that it didn’t warn her soon enough.

That’s why when she saw Captain America rode a motorcycle, looking everywhere on the road while passing her was almost enough to cause her a heart attack. Her heart was still drumming maniacally when Steve already gone out of her sight. After a few search on her new social media accounts, she quickly found out that the Avengers were trying to find her. Or, at least, find something or someone. But, in all honesty, she was certain that they were finding her.

There were plenty videos of them on the internet, roaming through the city while the drones were flying above them. While she had finally accepted the fact that the drones were everywhere out there and that she couldn’t do anything about it, the appearance of the Avengers was on another whole level. For years, the Avengers had been Penny’s heroes, and now, they were out there, around the city, seeking for her, a stupid teenage girl who they only met officially once.

As she watched footage and read the articles, her face getting paler and paler. War Machine was flying on the sky of New York, along with three Iron Man suits, the Falcon and hundreds of drones. While on the ground, Captain America, Black Widow and Bucky Barnes were seen riding motorbikes, roaming through New York streets, their eyes darting around seeking for something. It was the hottest topic on every internet sensation, many were worried if there was a threat that they didn’t aware of, the theories about was getting wilder and wilder.

Penelope’s situation was very shitty, eh? It was like an impossible mission to hide from the Earth’s mightiest heroes. She knew that, and she knew the only reason why she still lasted until now was because she had hacked FRIDAY. If they reveal her face, which was possible from how desperate they seemed, Penelope would be caught in less than a day.

But thank God for Karen, the real savior of Penny. She suggested her to activate the ‘back door’ protocol so they could track down the Avengers’ s locations from the communication system they were using that linked to FRIDAY and to listen to what they talked to each other. Her dear AI also suggested that she should go buy and put on some new clothes, she got her sunglasses, sure, but that wasn’t enough.

Penny did just that. And she had survived from the possibility of being caught by the Avengers.

Two days later after the Avengers had made their first appearance, an official statement was release from the Stark Industry. By ‘official statement’, it meant an explanation from the Avengers, or Mr. Stark, to the worried and curious public.

They said that there wasn’t any dangerous threat and that they were only trying to find Tony Stark’s missing niece (???). They explained that the girl was the main contributor to the Avengers’s fighting gadgets and that she held many top secrets knowledge about it, especially things that related to Spider Girl, who had been missing for days. That’s why, if someone caught her, they could harm her to take the information or use her against the Avengers. They didn’t release any information about Penny (thanks God), no name, no picture, nothing.

Penelope could finally relax, if they really released her personal information, she could never be able to hide. Even so, it was really awkward as she read a bunch of theories about her, as Tony Stark’s mysterious niece that no one ever heard about. Some thought that she was kidnapped by aliens (??), some believed that she was actually Mr. Stark’s daughter and she ran away from home after being held captive for her entire life just like Rapunzel (???),… and that was just the most normal theory, the others…not so normal. And if she had to read another article that said crazy things like she was Stark Industry’s heiress, she would lose her mind.

The official statement also said that they would try their best to not disturb people’s lives, so they would only continue searching for the missing girl until the end of the week before retreating all the drones back.

The following few days after that were truly torture to Penelope. She could barely sleep as night as Karen occasionally would inform her about the approaching drones. Those things always fly, even at night, they came to every abandoned warehouses, streets, alleys, etc…to scan in order to find her. Sometimes, as she went to hide those drones, she saw the Avengers, both on the sky and the ground, quietly searching for her. She almost got a heart attack when the Winter Soldier rode the motorbike passed where she was hiding.

On the bright side, she finally got a job. Okay, maybe two jobs. She mainly work as a janitor at a sushi restaurant every morning, except weekend, from 6:30 am. Her boss, who was an old man in his early sixty, hired her as his nephew went to continue his education again. He and her other coworkers were, or at least partly, Japanese, they had good sense of humor and were very polite, they treated her very nice. At the weekend or in Wednesday and Friday afternoon, she worked as a librarian at the public library of ESU. With those jobs, she was able to maintain her minimum need as a homeless person without using the money that she had brought with her when she ran away. Even better, Karen found some shelters that just had been opened so she didn’t have to sleep in abandoned house anymore.

Exactly like how they had said, all the flying drones were retreated when Sunday ended at exactly 11:59 pm, but the Avengers still kept searching by themselves. They kept doing it for another week before seemingly gave up, Penelope couldn’t be so sure since she hadn’t access into FRIDAY’s system after Karen warned her about Ms. Romanoff’s suspect. The female super spy thought that Penny had done something to their searching system before leaving and Mr. Stark had tried to find out any trace she might have left. It was dangerous if she continued to spying on them through the ‘back door’ protocol when her mentor was monitoring everything closely like that.

After another two weeks, Penelope was certain that she was now safe. She had been getting closer to everyone at her work places, she had been better at her jobs and she had enough money to buy more foods that suit her taste instead of only because that was cheapest. Everything was quite normal until she met a familiar face when she was walking on the road after having lunch.

The man was dressing in a formal suit, a suitcase in his hand while a white cane in the other. A pair of expensive black glasses was on his shocking face.

“Kid? Is that you?”

Penelope was too surprised to answer anything properly.

“…Matt?”

Yes, it was Matt Murdock, the one who was secretly Daredevil. She had teamed up with him from time to time in the past, they trusted each other enough to reveal their true identities. She rarely met him any more after Mr. Stark finally took the whole mentor thing seriously, they were still friends though.

“Oh my God, kid… Come on, we should talk. Somewhere else maybe.”

She didn’t refuse, still shocked to see her old friend that she just let him dragged her to a small coffee store. At first, they didn’t say anything, just sitting in silence. Penelope stared at her latte, didn’t dare to look up even if the man was blind.

“So,” Matt started “what I heard from one of my friend from NYPD that you are missing. Stark, his family and the Avengers were losing their minds since they cannot find you. They didn’t know if you are still alive. A clueless case.”

“…”

“Are you running away?”

“…Yes.”

“Why? Kid, can you tell me?”

“…”

“I know that you are young and all, but…” he sighed “I know you are not the type of kid who would throw a tantrum like this. Can you tell me, Penny?”

“…”

“Alright.” He relented with another sigh, took another sip from his cup of coffee before standing up “Finish your coffee, kid. I will call a cab. Do you have any other thing than that bag of yours that we need to pick up?”  
That made Penelope alarmed. No, there was no way that she would let Matt took her back! No!

When she was quickly grabbing her bag to run away, Matt raised his hand and shook his head.

“Kid, I wasn’t going to take you back. Not if you don’t want to, so you don’t have to run away from me. I’m just suspect that you don’t have a proper place to live and coincidentally, my house has spare rooms. You can stay there, if you want, of course.”

Penelope was dazed. After a moment she finally spluttering.

“Wha…what?”

“You heard me, kid. Do you want to stay at my house? I won’t mind.”

“Ye, yeah. I’d love to, but really?”

“Yes. Now come on, finish your drink. We need to go.”

She took a huge sip from her latte cup and quickly stood up, following Matt out of the store. They took a cab in silence before being dropped in front of a three store house in the edge of Hell’s Kitchen. It was a white, elegant looking house from the outside.

Penelope turned to Matt, who was leading them into the house, and asked.

“I thought you live in an apartment?”

“Yeah, but I moved. It had been five years.”

“…Right.”

They stepped inside the house and the girl immediately noticed the dusty wooden floor with footprints on it. Actually, everything was dirty and even if she didn’t want to be rude, she couldn’t help but asked.

“When was the last time you clean this place?”

The man just shrugged, said nonchalantly.

“I don’t even remember myself. I keep forgetting to call the cleaning service all the time. Hardy helps me cleaning the kitchen sometimes, that probably the cleanest place in this house. Your room is on the third floor, kid. I just changed the bedsheet two weeks ago so I don’t think it will be dirty.”

Penelope hummed in respond, she quickly climbed on the stairs to the third floor, two steps at a time. The third floor has two rooms, while the one on the left had a bunch of different things like chairs, lamps, … The other room was bare with only a small bed and bedside table, nothing else. It was linked with a small bathroom through a wooden door. The floor and the walls were also dirty, she would need to clean up everything. She put her bag on the bed before heading downstair again.

She saw Matt was putting his crappy phone back into his pocket as she enter the kitchen, where was probably the cleanest place in the house.

“Just call Wilson and Hardy, they would probably be here soon. I just ordered some foods, we will eat with them. Pizza’s good to you, kid?”

“Yeah, it’s fine to me. But, I have a question, since when did you talk to Felicia?”

That was what surprised her the most. Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat was a strange woman with the kind of witty that could easily put Spider Girl to shame. The woman used to throw witty, gross comments at her until she knew how old Penny really was, since the reveal, she had hold back from using a good amount of inappropriate words and kept fussing over the girl like a mother hen. She and Matt didn’t get along and whenever they met, they fought, sometimes Penny even worried that they might kill each other.

“Things…changed, I guess. We kept each other’s number in case of emergency, never thought we would really need it someday. Until…’that’ happened. Hardy called me on the day that everyone was dusted, asking if I could go find you with her. Wade was the first one who raised that idea after Hardy told him that she saw you follow that spaceship. We, of course, couldn’t find you. We kept trying to search until Wade saw Stark in front of your old apartment’s door, alone.”

“…Oh.”

She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t think that her vigilant friends would have been worried like that, it didn’t even cross her mind. It was nice that they had cared enough for her to actually teamed up like that, but it made she felt guilty as she didn’t even think about them after she came back. ‘Too many things happened’ or ‘didn’t think they would care’ weren’t reasons for her to treated them like that. She shouldn’t have done it.

_And you called yourself a nice person, a good friend._

Matt continued.

“Wade went crazy for a while. And Felicia, I mean Hardy, kept coming to my house with a bottle of wine. She kept drinking even when she was drunk then started sobbing and cursing things. We…struggling for a while before things started to settle down. It wasn’t all that easy, it was the darkest time everyone had to gone through, I guess.”

Penelope knew this. While the situation that was happening to her and most people who had come back from the snap was bad, the things that the living had to go through wasn’t good either. There was grieve, hollow and sadness. No one got out of this unscattered.

“After the reverse, we tried to find you but we couldn’t. We even thought you didn’t come back until we saw you patrolled again. Then, I heard you had gone missing from a friend from NYPD.”

“You know people from NYPD?”

“The thing is, kid, when you are a lawyer like me, you would probably meet some. Stark had gone all out this time, kid. You might not know it, but the whole 50 people from the police department that in charge of your case had to sign a bunch of NDAs and they had to work crazily these days, trying to find you.”

Shit, Penelope felt really guilty. She didn’t think they would go all out like that, it really made her surprised. But that didn’t mean she would go back. She couldn’t. If she go back, she may never be able to leave again, they wouldn’t let her. After she left, the current life she had, although it was hard, it helped her gain some balance back. Everything had stopped hurting, she didn’t have to suffer constantly anymore.

She didn’t want to go back.

Just like he could read her mind, Matt told her gently.

“I didn’t tell you this to make you go back, Penny. I just want to know why you left, that’s all.”

She couldn’t answer him. Matt wouldn’t understand, he would probably tell her to go back and talk. And Penelope couldn’t do that. She couldn’t.

A person burst through the door without ringing any bell, almost knock her down with her tight hug.

“Fe…Felicia?”

Felicia sobbed loudly into her shoulder, chocking over her own words.

“Oh my God, oh my God…it’s really you. I’m not dreaming aren’t I?”

Penelope awkwardly patted the woman’s head, trying to calm her down. She wasn’t used to this Felicia. She only familiar with the witty Black Cat, who kept teasing her all the time.

Felicia let her go after a moment. She checked up and down Penelope, seemed to try to find any possible injuries.

“You are not hurt right? Where have you been?”

“I’m alright. Just going around I guess.”

Felicia didn’t seem to satisfied with that answer but she didn’t ask anything else. She just tell Penelope to took her to the room that Matt had given her. The woman complaint all the way to the room and groaned loudly when once she saw it.

“It will take at least a week to clean these things.”

She muttered and Penelope had to agree. There was no way she would let the house dirty like this, she was taught better than that. She was thinking about taking a bath before Matt called them, telling them that both Wade and the pizzas had arrived.

Wade was ecstatic to see her again, she was quite certain about it, even though he hide it behind his usual demeanor and the familiar “baby girl”. They had a good dinner together, they chatted and Penelope were grateful to be included every conversation. They talked about their lives, what had changed during five years. Matt had been more successful than ever, he was often offered case with high pay, about thousands dollar each. The others, while didn’t mention much about their normal life, they told her so much things happened when they were being vigilant, like what had changed around New York. She told them what she had been doing after she ran away and they listened attentively. Wade and Felicia didn’t question her choice in running away, she thought they could sense her uncomfortable. It was good to have two sides conversation instead just sitting there and listened to what everyone said. Furthermore, they seemed to be very happy to have her with them.

It was so nice.

The following week was filled with stuff to do. Instead of wandering around New York when she didn’t have work to do, she spent her time to clean Matt’s house. The man had come back with a bunch of cleaning tools the next day after they met again. She didn’t even know how he could carry all of those things himself. Felicia came frequently too. She brought new wallpaper, paints and brush, saying that they needed to redecorate Penelope’s new room after finish cleaning up. She enjoyed listening to the woman scolding Matt while the man just standing there in silence, head bowed, seemed like a child who was being scolded by his mother.

But even with Felicia’s help, she couldn’t finish the cleaning work until the end of the week. By then, Wade came and actually help them painted her room ceiling and hang up wallpaper. Felicia had chosen a rose wallpaper, pretty classic but Penelope couldn’t say that she didn’t like it. Matt even gave her one of his spare bookcase that he just put in his work room just because it made the room less empty. He and Wade brought it together from the second floor to her room, she had wanted to help since she had super strength but Felicia stopped her. The woman said that could be used as a punishment for not keeping his house clean and the teenage girl was surprised to see Matt didn’t say anything about that. Felicia also brought her a new foldable wardrobe even when Penny only had like, three pairs of clothes.

It warmed her that they cared about her that much but it didn’t help settle down the waves inside her head. They knew each other because of their vigilant business, it was like the biggest similarity that they shared with each other. But now, Penelope couldn’t continue her Spider Girl works anymore, not after what had happened. Would they stop helping her if they knew she didn’t intend to do it anymore?

The answer was ‘no’.

The three had been very surprised that she said she didn’t want to continue her vigilant business anymore but they didn’t oppose it. Felicia seemed to be very happy, Penny had always known that the woman hate that she was so young, but she didn’t know that the woman had been that worried about her continuing her heroic works. Matt only told her to be careful not to reveal her power and Wade just shrugged, claiming that he didn’t have to stop himself from cursing anymore, not that he ever did of course.

Penelope was really grateful to have someone in her corner, who wanted her with them and cared about her, who could understand her problem, respect and do not question her about her decisions.

For several months, everything was peaceful. She went to work and came back to Matt’s house after finishing, cooked and had dinner with Matt, listened to him rambling about all kinds of weird things that he had heard in the court and sometimes, Wade and Felicia would come too and brought foods with them. It might sound weird for a girl like her to live in the same house with a single man like Matt, but the man really respected her privacy. He never came up to her floor, only Felicia did that, and they only meet and talked during dinners since Penny always left very early for her works.

One day, a new topic was brought up during their dinner with each other, this time, Wade and Felicia were also present.

“So, have you thought about college yet, Penny?”

Felicia asked and Penny stopped eating to look up. She was surprised. Matt chimed in.

“That’s right, on legal papers right now you are already eighteen. You should probably continue your education, it will be needed in your future.”

“Uh, I guess, no. I mean, my financial circumstance right now isn’t that good. I’m thinking about taking it after another few years.”

“That’s make sense.”

Wade nodding while Matt looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, he offered.

“I can help paying for your tuition fees. With my current salary, I don’t think that will be hard.”

“What?! No, you can’t! I won’t accept it!”

“Why not, Penny? Think about it, we all know that you are very smart, if you have the chance, your future archives can be outstanding. Plus, I know you still want to learn, I know that you brought books back every week.”

Penelope hesitated. What Matt said was true, she really did want to continue to learn more. But she couldn’t just accept Matt’s help, he had helped her too much already!

Sensing her distress, Felicia said gently.

“You can just give it more time to think about. After that, you can give us the answer and we will work to figure this out, how does that sound?”

The teenage girl agreed with Felicia, and with that, they changed the topic.

Penelope loved her job as a librarian. Her job was pretty simple, at least to her, organizing materials and helping people who come to the library when they had questions. The great things about bring a librarian to her was she knew very well what was put where, and what exactly these materials talked about. She didn’t have to waste so much time when she had to search for books to read after her shifts end. The main readers and supervisor of the library were ESU students, because one of the students who was in charge of being the librarian was too busy, they had to hire Penelope. ESU students were very bright and they were really into science.

Penelope often sat with them when she read, they didn’t mind. Sometimes, when she heard they talked about an interesting topic, she would join them in the discussion. They listened to her ideas with interest and considered them seriously. There was a group of third year students who she really liked sitting with, they often asked her opinions about random topics related to their studies and were very friendly. They were smart students, she could say.

The day after her chat with Matt, Felicia and Wade about college, a girl from the third year students group, Isabella, asked her.

“Penelope, have you heard about our school’s science competition?”

“Uh, no, I haven’t. Why do you ask?”

“It’s a yearly competition for everyone, even outsiders. Although, I must say that most of the competitors are our school’s students. There isn’t any specific topic, the product just need to be science-related. You should join in, it will be fun! Plus, I heard the first prize this year is five thousand dollars.”

Penny hesitated.

“Uhm…I don’t know. It sounds really interesting, but I don’t think I can get the prize.”

A guy from the group rolled his eyes, chimed in.

“Stop selling yourself so short please. We all know how smart you are, we talk to you all the time.”

The others nodding in agreeing, Penelope blushed.

“You guys think too high of me. But you really think I should join.”

“Yeah!”

They chorus, seemed to be very excited. After a moment, the teenage girl relented.

“Okay. I will think about it.”

For the rest of the day, Penelope let her wander around the idea of joining the competition. It really did sound interesting, but she wasn’t sure if she should do it. In order to keep staying in New York without Mr. Stark notice her, she needed to stay low-key. ESU was a very famous university about technology and science, it was an Ivy League school. Many students from the school had become an employee of Stark Industry later in their lives. This science competition might attract the attention of Stark Industry so it could be a dangerous move for her to join in.

But joining in the competition was a very attractive idea. She could see many others ideas and inventions there, and the prize, if she could win the prize, she could have more money for college. 

But then, if she join in, what should she make? It wasn’t like she had enough money to do something flashy anyway, and even if she tried to find tools from the garbage, there might be not enough time.

Suddenly, an idea popped up in her mind. This might be even more easy than she had thought.

She raced back to her room right after she came back to Matt’s house. Kneeling on the wooden floor beside her bed, she reached her arm to take out the suitcase under the bed. It was the suitcase that filled with her special pills that fit with her metabolism and some other gadgets that related to her old hero business that she had took with her before leaving, she had retreated it earlier just in case someone could find it accidentally. She pressed her finger on the fingerprint recognition and with a small ‘click’, the suitcase opened.

She took out something like normal bandage but wasn’t. It was something she had invented on her own after Mr. Stark suggested her to do something else with the wed formula. After so many experiments, she had come to the final version of this new bandage. It was easier to use, if it could reach the hands of paramedics, it could change so many fates. She had intent to show her mentor but the whole plan and her research about it ended up staying in dust for years in FRIDAY’s server.

If she use this, she might have a chance.

“Karen, is it safe to enter FRIDAY now? I need you to download my ‘6.8 bandage formula’ project.”

As she expected, the competition was really exciting. She could see robots and scient things everywhere in the large hall. Most of the competitors attended in groups, and their product looked so flashy. She wondered if she could win the competition.

She nervously looked around as her hands fidgeted with her shirt. After the judges finished checking their works, the competitors could go around to look at each other’s products.

The judges finally arrived at her table. She had prepared for the presentation for a long time and she was very certain that she could remember every words clearly. But most of the judges looked uninterested as her presentation went on. She felt like she had already failed but she continued her talking with calmness. She wouldn’t give up, not until the end!

As she thanked them for listening for her short presentation, the judges nodded and started to move to the next table. Penelope noticed one of the judge still kept his eyes on her bandage, looked like he was in deep thought before slowly went with the others.

After another two hours, the judges had finished their works and were going to announce the winner. Penelope had already seen the others projects, most of them looked quite cool but nothing was comparable to the stuffs that Mr. Stark had shown her.

“Attention everyone! We have finally come to the last decisions, the winners were going to be announce right now.”

She clenched her hands together, silently prayed. The other competitors seemed to hold their breath too.

“The second prize belong to Table 16 of group Starlight!”

Everyone clapped, someone cheered.

“The first prize belong to…Table 6 of group Pluto!”

Cheers erupted in the hall and Penelope let out a sigh. She had thought she could have a chance to win this. As she was starting to cleaned up her station, one of the judges talked into the microphone, attracted everyone’s attention.

“This year, we have another surprise. Beside the two main prizes that were just being announced, there is another one. A special prize.”

Murmur started to spread among the competitors, everyone was surprised. The judge, who Penelope later knew that was ESU’s rector, continued, his smile was bright.

“I had seen many impressive projects before in my life, but today, I have seen one that held so many potentials with it, despite the normal look. Your projects don’t have to be flashy to be given a prize, our main goal is to create something that really helpful in life. And today, I have seen one like that. I know that your projects are very interesting, but most of them aren’t exactly useful.”

Penelope held her breath, she could see the others doing it too.

“The last prize today belongs to…Penelope Mary Parker! Your new version of bandage is very realistic and useful, I have never seen such an impressive formula like that in my life! Congratulation, Ms. Parker. You will receive a three-year full ride scholarship at ESU, that is if you want to study here in the future of course.”

Penelope thought she was going to cry right then and there. Because, oh my God, it was a scholarship at ESU, one of the best school in the entire country! What could possibly be better?!

She came back later than she had expected since she had to stay behind to talk with Mr. Brown, ESU’s rector about her scholarship. When she came back, Felicia and Wade were already there.

“I won a scholarship at ESU.”

That the first thing she told them when she stepped in the room. Felicia screamed like crazy and hugged her tightly while Wade clapped his hands and gave her some compliments. Matt didn’t say anything although he just sat there and smiled, agreed immediately as Felicia suggested to celebrate with a feast. That night, the four of them came to bed with a stomach full of delicious take outs.

But that wasn’t the only feast that Penelope ate as the celebration of her scholarship. The next day when she gave Mr. Taka, her boss, her resignation letter and explained why she wouldn’t be able to keep working there after another month, the old man had laughed out loud and insisted that they should celebrate it. She of course, refused as her boss and her other coworkers at the restaurant had been so nice to her, but the man didn’t care. He threw a small feast in their restaurant kitchen with their own foods, everyone congratulated her. She had felt so happy.

The following months was filled with works to prepare for her college life. Felicia dragged her to countless clothes shops to buy new clothes, she even insisted that she would help Penelope paid a half. Penelope would live in the dormitory so she wasn’t going to stay at Matt’s house anymore. The man didn’t say anything, just tell her to come back every time she need, his door was always opened for her.

The last day was a little teary. When she walked out the restaurant that day, her boss and her coworkers had gone out to say goodbye. As she thanked them for their generous and help, Mr. Taka just laughed and ruffled her hair, claimed that she come back with other costumers would be a proper thank. Penelope promised that she would.

When she was packing up the last things, Matt came up to her room. That probably was the only time the man came up. He gave her box and when she opened it, she recognized that was the Mova globe. The globe was in white and gold, she knew how expensive it was as she once came across it on the internet. It used the new technology that made it can spin on its own, a beautiful thing to see. A luxury thing.

“It’s a congratulation gift. Don’t refuse. My friend suggested to choose this, he said it was beautiful and fit with the occasion.” Matt paused “I think a person who is kind and smart like you are able to archive many things.”

He stood up and ruffled her hair before walked out of the room, not forget to throw some last words over his shoulder.

“It’s time to move on to the next part of life, Penny.”

She just sat there, on the bed when she heard that. Then she smiled and looked out of the window, where she could see the moon shining brightly on the sky.

_Yeah, it’s time to move on._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this time, I have the perfect reason for why I update this late. I intended to post the new chapter since Wednesday but I was sick that day, having a stomach flu and all that jazz. So instead of it, I update today with a new chapter that is at least double length the normal one, so, pls consider it as two chapters.   
> This new chapter is mostly the preparation for the next one. The next one we will come to Tony’s and May’s POV, which mean emotional torture. I have been looking forward to write the next chapter.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter pls be patient as the next chapter might come out later than we would like! I promise that it won’t be so long!  
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think about this chapter! Kudos are also appreciated.


	14. Something is wrong.

It was a true miracle for May to have Penny back.

After five years, five years of grieving, of mourning, praying to any God that could hear her to give her daughter back. And then fell into the abyss of hopelessness.

No one could really imagine what she had gone through in her life. She had been abandoned by her own blood family, then she had met, fallen in love and married Ben Parker, who had walked her from the dark and back into the light again. He was a nice man, a true gentleman, brave, kind and patient, they had had a good time together. Then Penny was thrusted into their lives. It was one of the best thing had happened in May’s life, even if it was born from a tragedy. For a few years, it would always be a few years to May, life had been so perfect. She had Ben, her husband, who loved and cherished her, and Penny, her precious daughter, the sunshine of her life. Everything was perfect, so perfect. Then, there was the legendary Parker’s luck.

Ben was shot. May lost her husband, she had struggled, had cried herself into sleep, had thought that it was just a nightmare. But she was brave, or at least she had tried to be, for Penny, for her sweet daughter, who had already gone through so much in her short life. May had stood up again, on her own, **_for her precious Penny_**. The two of them, together, had moved on from tragedy again, even if it included some struggles related to her daughter’s special part-time job, and Tony Stark. They had moved on, and it had seemed like flowers started to bloom in their lives again. Then Penny was dusted.

Dusted. One single word that brought nightmares for May every night. May could never think she would lose Penny in such a way, never, even in her worst nightmare. It wasn’t even possible.

But Penny had been ripped from her hands just like that.

She was gone, turned into dust and went with the wind like half of the universe. May couldn’t get up again. What was the reason for her to do so? Her daughter was gone, and even if she didn’t want to, after a few months, she lost her hope. She started to believe that Penny would never come back home again, back to her arms, let her smell the familiar coconuts shampoo. She would never smile, laugh, happily tell her about her newest conversations with Ned, what stupid thing Tony had done in their lab time. Never. Never, not anymore. May couldn’t even have a corpse to burry this time, her daughter never had a proper tomb. She was only a normal name in billions of names in the government’s data about snapped people. Just a life that had been lost.

May couldn’t get up. For months, she had lived like a true zombie. It was like her soul had been taken from her. She couldn’t get up, she didn’t even think she would ever will. May had dead along with Penny, her only and precious daughter. And then Happy was there.

He was a kind man, even if he wasn’t a really talkative person from the first time you meet him, he was a nice person. A kind one who was patient and cared for her when she was going through the darkest time in her life. He wasn’t good with using words to comfort other people, but he had been willing to lend her a shoulder to cry on. He had been there for her when she lost everything, and May would forever grateful about that. They shared the sadness over losing Penny. Although Penny had thought and described the man as someone who didn’t exactly fond of her, May could tell that the man was actually a big softie when it came to Penny. Losing the teenage girl gave him a hard time too.

Slowly, like in a true cheesy, unrealistic romantic novel, they fell in love. They got closer, and after two years of dating, three years after Penny passed away, they got married. It was a big step toward future, or at least that was what May’s therapist had told her.

May would never forget Ben, never, that wouldn’t happen. The man was the first person who had shown her how beautiful this world could be, had saved her from dying from such a young age, had given her the kindness that she never dreamed to have, and the most important, Ben had given May a true family. He had given her Penny. Even if May gave up the ‘Parker’ name, she would never forget Ben. She would always carry and cherish the memories of him, she wouldn’t let the last piece of such a great man fade. Happy didn’t mind about it, he thought it was great to not forget Ben because he was the ‘light part’ of May’s life.

But with Penny, things were different. Even if the girl wasn’t there, May was constantly reminded of her. From the white daisies that the girl used to love, her favorite song, Star War legos, Spider Girl wall paintings, May saw those everywhere. It was like torture. May had saw Ned before he was going to college, and God, how envy she was of him. He had the chance to grow up and had a future, where he could experience so much more. Penny didn’t have a chance to do it. She didn’t have a chance to choose college, to date a guy who she loved, to see the world with her own eyes.

Penny didn’t have that chance. It was ripped from her.

May visited and put flowers every year at Ben’s and Penny’s parents’s tombs. But May never be able to put Penny’s favorite flowers, those beautiful white daisies, at the girl’s tomb. She didn’t even have one. How ironic.

Morgan’s appearance was a blessing, not only to her parents, but also to May and everyone else. The girl was smart, happy and energetic, she was so much like Penny when she was younger. May treated her with all her heart, she loved the little girl even if she always reminded her of Penny. May was slowly healing, but the gaping hole that her precious daughter had left behind in her heart never close, even if it was just a little. So imagine how May had felt when she heard Penny was back.

She was at her and Happy’s apartment when she heard the news. Happy had been at the Tower, babysit Morgan while Tony and Pepper couldn’t. The couple had gone out to do something, May didn’t know. She heard cheers and scream from the neighborhood but didn’t think all that much, she had been focus on her weekly report. Then Happy burst through the door, panting heavily and stuttered out some words. May couldn’t remember what her husband had said, her mind had stopped working when she heard the word ‘Penny’.

The two of them rushed to the Tower, she never seen Happy drive fast like that. She went to the Medbay at top speed and stopped at a halt when she saw the person who was sitting in front of the emergency room.

It was Penny, it was her precious daughter, who she had dreamed to meet again every night in five years. She looked pale, tired and exhausted, but her chest was moving, she was breathing. She was solid. May ran toward the girl and gave her a desperate hug, she cradled her head in her arms while inhaling deeply the scent of coconut shampoo. The scent was familiar yet far away, May had never smell anything more wonderful than that scent.

Penny had finally back in her arms, and she was alive.

There wasn’t anything better in the world to May, she would never trade it with anything else. She thanked Tony, the Avengers and the Gods who had listened to her endless praying, she could never express her gratefulness.

After they came back to the apartment, May had led Penny to their largest spare bedroom, watching the girl disappeared behind the closed door was one of the hardest thing May had done. She had to resist the urge to burst into the girl’s room to make sure that she was still there. The next morning, she woke up, feeling dazed like she just walked out of a dream, and for a moment she had thought it was, had thought what had happened yesterday was just her imagination. But when May saw Penny came out of her new bedroom and said good morning to her, May nearly broke down and cried again.

She wanted to stay at home, to spend time with her daughter, but her coworkers had begged, they didn’t have enough people and with the rising misplaced people because of the snap, they needed her. So May came to the shelter and did her works, but that didn’t stop her from calling to check on Penny every time her breaks started. Just by listening to the girl’s voice, she had gained more strength than ever to do her job.

Penny started to go out of the apartment, while it was nice that she didn’t spend all day being a potato couch, May didn’t feel easy about it. New York streets can be dangerous, and although Penny was Spider Girl, she still couldn’t stop herself from worrying.

And then the girl came back to be Spider Girl and her school life, that was a good thing. They had stepped another step toward the old normalcy. May could easily notice that Penny had been closing off, she still smiled and laughed, sometimes she even joined in the banters, but that didn’t cover everything. She could easily how her smile sometimes didn’t even reach her eyes, how her shoulder tensed, it was small things, but May could see it.

But May had stopped herself from questioning Penny, the girl was a teenager, she needed more space for herself, especially then, when she was adjusting back to the new life. So May had tried, really she did, she didn’t want to push Penny too much, not wanting to make the girl uncomfortable. Penny didn’t seem to like sharing about her daily activities with her anymore, after she came back home from the first day back school, May had asked her about her day, only to receive a forced reply. Her coworkers had reassured her that the girl only need some more time before back to her normal self, and May had thought they were right. Penny had also closed off after Ben’s death, but she had slowly recovered and came back to her normal lovely self.

Tony’s wake from his coma was a good new. May had been ecstatic at first, she wanted to tell Penny right away, knowing how much the girl had worried. But after a long discussion between the adults, they decided to keep Penny in the dark for a little longer. If the girl saw how much her father figure had struggled just to do normal things like sitting up, she would surely blame herself. No one wanted that. So they had lied to the girl, it was wrong, May knew it, she felt guilty every time she saw the despair in her daughter’s eyes when she told her that Tony hadn’t wake up. But May kept doing it, if it was for Penny’s sake, she was willing to do anything.

Then May had lead the girl to pick things up from the storage, after Penny was dusted, everything reminded her of the teenage girl, and May couldn’t really bring herself to look at them anymore. She had intended to do that sooner, but things kept came up and leading Penny to pick her old things had been the last thing in her mind at that time. What happened that day was like a push that made everything worsened.

When the girl burst into the Starks’s living room and asked about her music box, May could felt her whole body stiffened. She had given that thing to someone else, and there was no choice left other than telling the girl the truth. And Penny had raised her voice at her.

The Penny she knew never do that to her, nor anyone else that she knew of. Her daughter was smart and sweet, always so polite, everyone knew that, and May was so proud of the girl. But Penny had snapped at her, she had snapped at her for the first time, before started crying and ran out of the room. May would have bursted into tears if Happy and Tony weren’t there.

She was then advice to have a professional intervention into Penny’s situation. A therapist, or someone who had the experiences about emotional problems, they had told May so. May thought it was a good idea, and she told Tony who was then suggested by Steve to let the girl join in a support group. As someone who had been working for the shelter program for years like her, May was familiar with the idea about support group, she had saw many who had been helped after joining in those programs. She thought it would be good for Penny too.

But there was a problem, knowing Penny, the girl wouldn’t accept it easily. She thought as a superhero, she wasn’t supposed to have that much mental problems. The girl thought that she was weak even after Tony and May had reassured her that she wasn’t. So they decided to not let Penny know.

And the relationship between her and Penny had worsened. The girl didn’t want to hear any explanation coming from May, hell, she didn’t even look at her in the eyes anymore. May felt like she was failing at the whole being parent thing.

But May didn’t give up. She would never give up if it came to Penny. She asked if the girl would want to have some girls’s time with her together, just the two of them. She had never felt more relief when Penny happily agreed. May had thought that was a true new beginning for the whole recovery thing.

But May had forgot. Shit, she had forgot about it. She knew sometimes she forgot some obvious and important things, everyone was like that sometimes, especially those who was her age. But she never thought she would forget about Penny’s things. Her poor daughter had waited for her for three hours and called her 27 times, not to mention about the endless texts. And May had forgot about her.

After that incident, they didn’t even talk anymore. Penny avoided looking at May or even meeting her. They barely ‘communicated’. Everything was so fragile, like she was walking on thin glass, and if she stepped toward to Penny, everything would shatter.

May never want this, she never wanted their relationship to be this strained. After having Penny back after five years long, they should have spent time to create more great memories with each other, not like…this. It was like torture to May. She had never, never ever imagined in her life that the relationship between her and her daughter could be so fragile. Like glass.

And tonight, Penny had texted her, telling her that she wasn’t going to come back for dinner, she was going to eat out instead. Question after question popped up in her mind after she read the text for the first time.

May didn’t understand, Penny knew how May had thought about letting her out in the normal civilian clothes at night alone. Why would she ask her now? Was she going to eat with a friend or something? Was there any reason for this? Was it because her strained relationship that Penny didn’t want to eat at home?

May didn’t understand. She wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure if she should. Their relationship was already enough fragile, May didn’t want to make another mistake that could shatter it completely.

So after hovering over her Starkphone’s keyboard for a few minutes, she relented and agreed with Penny. She never thought that would be the last message she could send to Penny for a long time.

Time passed slowly that night. Penny didn’t come back even if it was already 9 pm, nor she did text something to May. To stop the rising panic in her chest, May thought to herself that the girl was only out as Spider Girl like she usually did, there wasn’t anything to worry so much like that. Her daughter knew how to be careful on New York streets, she would be fine.

So she told Happy to go to sleep first and waited for the girl to come back in the living room. The ‘tick tock’ sound from their clock in the living room didn’t ease May’s mind. She clutched her phone tightly in her hand, waiting for any text or call from the girl but none came. She just sat there, alone in the quiet living room and stared at the black screen of the phone. After the clock stroke two in the morning, May started calling Penny. The girl usually out very late on patrol, and after she came back from the snap, May didn’t set any specific curfew for it. May didn’t like it of course, even though she was very proud of what her daughter did as Spider Girl, she couldn’t stop worrying. The only reason why she let Penny went out freely like that was because she knew the girl loved being Spider Girl, it gave the girl the freedom feeling and it was something that didn’t change after five years long.

May called, but couldn’t reach Penny. She was told that the number did not exist. She didn’t understand what was happening, all she knew that there must be something wrong. Very wrong.

At 2:13 in the morning, with a shaking hand, she dialed Tony’s number. The man picked up after the third ring. Before the man could say anything, May had already started.

“Tony, there was something wrong with Penny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter everyone :))) This is a faster update than the recent one, and also a bit longer than the medium length of my normal chapter, not as long as the previous one of course, but still an improvement. I hope my chapter can always be this long!  
> I know that this maybe isn't the emotional torture that I have talked about in the previuos chapter, but I was adviced to slow down a bit. Still, I hope you like this.   
> This chapter was told mainly from May's perspective so the next chapter we will get to Tony's. That would definitely more exciting :))  
> Alright, end of my little chit chat! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also appreciated!


	15. To find the answer.

If someone had told him, Tony Stark, that he would go to sleep at a reasonable hour without complaining ten years back, he would have scoffed at them. But now, after all the shit he had gone through, Tony had learned to precious his health and be a good role model for his daughter to follow. His family was finally whole once more, he could sleep peacefully now.

So when his phone rang at two in the morning, Tony had groaned before reached a hand out to the bedside table to take his phone. Before he even had the chance to say anything or simply blink the sleepiness from his eyes away, May had already started.

“Tony, there is something wrong with Penny.”

That single statement along with the shakiness in the woman’s voice made him sit up straight immediately.

“What’s wrong? Is she hurt? What…”

“I cannot reach her. My phone calls…I don’t know what is happening! It said that Penny’s number doesn’t exist!”

May broke down and started sobbing uncontrollable. It was a wonder how she could talk or even understand Tony. On the other hand, Tony was completely shocked. He, just like May, couldn’t understand what was happening. If what May said was true, which he didn’t doubt about, then it didn’t make any sense. Just a few days ago, Tony still text her normally, what’s the heck?! Did she just change her phone number without letting anyone know? Then why?!

“Calm down, May. I’m gonna go track her down. I will call you back.”

With that he hung up and sprint out of the room and went to the elevator. He tried to call Penny but May was right, the number didn’t exist anymore.

“FRIDAY, track Penny’s suit!”

“The suit is currently in the Tower, boss.”

That stopped Tony dead on his track.

“What? Is she still here then?”

“…No, sir. But the suit is on one of the station in Ms. Parker’s personal lab.”

Tony punched the button to Penny’s lab level. The moment the elevator door opened, he run out, heading toward the lab’s direction. He put a hand on the sensor on the glass door of the room before rushing in the moment the door slide open.

FRIDAY was right. There was no Penny in the room but the Spider suit was folded neatly on the table. And there was a piece of paper on it. He picked it up, took in the words that was definitely Penny’s handwriting and his heart dropped.

“ ‘I’m glad we could move on’ what’s the hell does that even mean?!”

Tony really didn’t understand the meaning lying behind those words, but that couldn’t be anything good.

“FRIDAY, when did Penny leave the Tower?”

“...Boss, I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know!?”

“I cannot find any video that include Penny that was recorded today.”

“What the fuck?! I just saw her here a few hours ago! What do you mean you can’t find it?!”

“There was a black out in some camera for thirty minutes five hours ago boss. Maybe that’s why.”

He rubbed a hand on his face. Shit, he was going to have a panic attack. Not right now, Tony, focus.

“Use Karen. And the trackers. We have some on the other things not only the suit right? Happy said he had given her the phone with a tracker in it.”

“....Boss, I can’t find anything related to Karen. The trackers are all in the lab, it seems like they had been removed.”

“What do you mean you can’t find anything related to Karen?!”

“There isn’t anything about her in my system, boss. Someone must have removed all off them.”

“Shit.”

This is bad. Really, really bad. He was starting to have a panic attack. Everything was spinning and it was so hard to breath. Pepper, gosh, he needed her.

Right then, his wife, in all her glories, rushed into the room. She must have been woken up by FRIDAY.

“Tony, Tony, calm down! You need to breath!”

“Pepper...I can’t...”

“Yes, you can. Now, focus on me. Breath in...and out. Yeah, just like that. In...and out. You are doing great, hon.”

With her soothing voice and calming breath, after a few minutes he finally calmed down. Just then, Pepper started asking.

“What’s wrong, Tony? What is happening? Why are you...?”

“I can’t find Penny.”

He cut her off, Pepper paused, seemingly worried just like him.

“Have you use the tracker?”

“Yes, and they were all removed. We couldn’t connect Karen either!”

“...Have you use the traffic camera system? You can use FRI to hack it, right?”

She suggested after a moment of silence. Tony’s eyes lit up, he had almost forgot about it in panic.

“FRI, search the traffic cameras. Scan all of them!”

He barked out the order while standing up from the ground. Pepper rubbed his back in a soothing rhythm, she murmured into his ear, voice soft.

“You are going to find her soon.”

Almost seven hours later and he still couldn’t find Penny.

From what he could tell, even Pepper was getting more and more anxious. Happy and May had rushed there about an hour ago and they were sitting in the living room with his wife. Happy and Pepper were trying to comfort May but they couldn’t do much for the sobbing and worrying woman. Rhodey was on his way from the Compound, promising him that he would be at the Tower soon and told Tony to just calm down a bit. Like hell he could.

FRIDAY had scanned through hundreds of camera feeds several times, but couldn’t find any single trace of his daughter. He had started using the satellite system but wasn’t sure if that would be helping. Sun had risen from the east, a new day had started and he wasn’t even sure where was his daughter. From the letter that she had left, it couldn’t be anything good…

Just when Tony slam his hand on the metallic table one more time, the door opened and Rhodey came in. Seeing his distress, his best friend immediately went straight to the main subject.

“How is it? Any clue yet?”

“No. Nothing. Not even a fucking thing!”

“Whoa, whoa, Tones. Calm down a bit, you don’t want Morgan to hear your cursing right?”

To reply his best friend, Tony let out another string of curse. Rhodey put a hand on his shoulder, talked with a calming voice.

“Tony, I know how you feel right now, but you have to keep yourself together. You cannot lose yourself to anger right now.”

Tony slam the piece of paper that Penny left into the other man’s chest, he hadn’t let anyone else see the thing, they had already worried enough. He rubbed his face with his hand while waiting for the man to process what was written in it. After a moment of silence, Rhodey said.

“This is not good.”

“You think?”

Tony scoffed, he didn’t want to put his anger on his best friend, but he didn’t give a fuck about it. All he could think about was his missing daughter who was God know where.

“Have you checked all the camera system?”

Rhodey asked, he wasn’t fazed by Tony’s attitude.

“Yes! I checked everything! Several times! Trackers, her AI, camera system, satellite, all those things! But I couldn’t find anything! It was like she just disappeared into thin air!”

“Her AI?”

“Yeah, Karen. FRIDAY couldn’t find anything related about her in her system, it’s like she doesn’t exist in the first place!”

“Someone must have deleted her information then. Do you think it’s Penny?”

Tony hesitated.

“I’m not sure. It must be her. I don’t really know the true extend of her ability. I did teach her about FRIDAY’s coding, but I have never mention about her core. Penny was brilliant, but I don’t know if she can do it. At least not right now, maybe in the future though.”

His friend smirked.

“Like father like daughter, huh? If she had deleted that information about her AI, then she must have other intention with it.”

“…maybe. But we cannot connect to her, so it’s not really has much use.”

After a short pause, Rhodey turned to Tony and asked.

“Then what should we do? No, actually scratch that. What are you going to do?”

Tony clenched his jaw, his mind worked hard to work out a solution. What was he going to do? That’s a good question that he wasn’t sure how to answer. After living five years without Penny, he finally got her back. Letting his daughter slips from his fingers wasn’t on the table. He would do anything to have Penny back, he wouldn’t give up on her. Ever. And no one could do anything to stop him.

“FRIDAY, start program 11304-C, code: Penny Parker. Mission: searching for Penny May Parker, using all the force we have.”

“Yes, boss. Starting now. ETA is seven minutes.”

Along with FRIDAY’s monotone voice, all the floating hologram screens surrounded them in Tony’s personal lab turned into the green color. Startled and confused, Rhodey turned to Tony, asking worriedly.

“Tony, what’s…What’s happening? What are you doing?”

“I’m not losing my daughter like this, Rhodey. I’m not gonna lose her like this.”

“Yes, I understand that Tony. But what’s exactly are you doing?”

“I’m going to use full force if I need to.”

“What…?”

Rhodey stopped short when he saw what was on the screen nearest them. Hundreds of red dots were approaching the Earth, New York to be specific.

“Holy shit.”

Rhodey muttered, almost completely speechless. He looked at his best friend like he was going insane, but Tony didn’t even care. There was a determent fire in his eyes that Rhodey had seen in numerous occasions and he knew too clear that Tony wasn’t going to budge. He could only sigh, well, Tony was determent to find his daughter so he should stay by his side to support him right?

Pepper bursted into the room the moment she saw flying drones flied pass the living room window. And while she was mad and worried, she could understand why her husband did that. So after she yelled at Tony for a few minutes, she exchanged a meaningful glance with Rhodey before leaving the room, let Tony did what he wanted.

Thirty minutes later and the flying drones had already trending on every single kind of media platform. There were like thousands of videos that recorded the drones, new article appeared every minutes and it was on the news. Despite the shit storm that was happening with the media, Tony didn’t give a fuck about it. Nothing could possibly affect his first priority at the moment, finding Penny.

So when Ross called, Rhodey could do nothing but sighed.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing, Stark? The UN…”

“Shut the hell up Ross.” Tony snapped and surprisingly, Ross snapped his mouth shut “This isn’t has anything related to the Accord. This isn’t happening oversea, so don’t you think about stopping me with the Accord this time. If you call again, or dare to come here, I will personally blast your face with my Iron Man’s gauntlet!”

With that he hung up and slammed his fist on the table. He was more than frustrated with the call than he should be. Maybe that was because he hadn’t known where Penny was yet. Right then, Rhodey’s phone rang. It was Cap.

“Rhodey? Do you know what is happening? You are with the Tower with Tony right? I just call him but it didn’t go through.”

Rhodey’s sighed before replying.

“Yeah, I’m standing right beside him right now. Let me just…FRIDAY?”

Without asking a specific request, the AI already understand what he meant. Within a second, a hologram screen with Steve’s face on it appeared in front of them, the man quickly started.

“Hi, Tony. We just watched the news on TV. What is going on? Is everything alright? Should we…”

“Penny is missing.”

That cut Cap off, he looked less tense but the worry was still there.

“You couldn’t find her?”

Tony buried his face into his hands while Rhodey shook his head.

“No, we haven’t find any trace off her yet. Not even from the traffic camera.”

“What exactly has happened? Was she out on patrol or…”

“No. She came to the Tower then left. She left a note behind, Tony just showed me.”

“Note?”

“Yeah, let me read it for you.”

After Rhodey read the letter out loud, Steve fell into silence again. Finally, he said.

“It seems like she left on purpose. Do you know why she did it?”

“No, not a fucking clue!”

Tony snapped, he had been silent while the other two talking to each other, until now.

“I don’t know why she did it! Nor why couldn’t I recognize anything when it’s obvious that she had long planned for this carefully! I always had her in my reach!”

“Calm down a bit, Tony. You need to keep yourself calm if you want to find her. Do you want us to help you now?”

“…No. Let’s not go that far. At least for now.”

“…Alright, if you say so. Call us if you need help, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

With that they ended the call.

Let the Avengers involve in this meant a whole other level. And while Tony had already let out the drones, he didn’t want his teammates involve too much in this. But if he need to, then he would not hesitate to call them in.

After a quick check with FRIDAY, Tony was confirmed that his kid had used her credit card. That black card was something he gave her a long time ago, for emergencies. The kid never touched a single coin in her bank account, even when she wanted a lego set so badly that she had intend to stop having lab days to find a part time job. Tony always found it was hilarious, if it was anyone else, they must have used already, but not Penny. The girl was just too good like that.

But this time, his daughter had withdrawn one thousand dollars, and that definitely said something. There was a low chance that she had already left New York with that amount of money, but right now, nothing could be sure. Especially when he couldn’t find any clue yet. While he had started to check the camera system of the train stations, airports, etc… he still hoped that she hadn’t left New York yet. Letting the drones out was one thing, but letting the Avengers out might really frighten her, and possibly push her to leave the city. He didn’t want that, so he would try to search by himself for a little more time before have to call in the team.

And for fuck’s sake, two days later and he still hadn’t find Penny yet.

He passed the living room after being forced by Pepper to take some rest, and the sight of May made him froze. The woman cried so much that her eyes were swelling, she looked exhausted as she slept on the couch. Happy was sitting beside her, he seemed to be tired too, but immediately stood up the moment he saw Tony walked in the room. The man opened his mouth to ask something but stopped as Tony shook his head sadly, after that he just sat down in silence and stared at his clasped hands.

Tony went to take a bath then ate and took a few hours of sleep, he had heard his wife talked to Rhodey this morning about calling Bruce to check on his heart, they knew too clear about his condition and the constant warning about his elevated heart rate didn’t ease it. It would be better if he just take some rest as they insisted and try not to collapse if he want to find Penny. When he woke up, he ate some more foods and was going to head down to the lab again when he saw Morgan. The waves of guilt crashed him violently as his second daughter slowly walked up to him and tugged his sleeve, demanded him to lower himself to talk to her. He crouched down in front of Morgan and tried to give her a smile, something he believed to looked more like a grimace. He felt like he had failed both of his daughter as he couldn’t find Penny nor spent enough time for Morgan the recent two days.

Morgan didn’t smile or even pout at him, she looked like she had been in deep thoughts. With her childish voice, she asked him innocently.

“Is Penny still going to meet me this weekend?”

That hit him hard. He had intended to let his two favorite little girls meet each other that weekend, after being delayed even more because of Penny’s…unstable emotional state, they haven’t got the chance to meet yet. Tony really wanted to them to meet, but he also didn’t want their first meeting, which would surely last long in their memory, turned into something…frustrated, he wanted it to be pure joy. But Penny, from her meeting with Harley, seemed to be more…uhm, well, he just didn’t think it would be fit for her to meet Morgan at that time since the little girl could be a handful. So, he rescheduled, and was going to surprise Penny with it. But now…he didn’t know if that plan could even be done.

Not knowing how to answer, he just hugged Morgan tightly while the girl fell into silence. When he parted away to leave to keep searching again, the girl was looking down at the ground, gloomy atmosphere surrounded her.

And that was when Tony finally decided.

He had seen how Pepper silently cried with worry etched in her eyes, the way Rhodey sighed and tried to hide his own emotions when he comforted Tony. He knew the two of them cared deeply for Penny too, but they had tried to push their emotions behind for Tony. He had seen May and Happy, exhausted with sadness and worries. He had seen Morgan, how the little girl had been so down.

And furthermore, Tony himself didn’t think that he could continue doing this, when he couldn’t even find a clue about his missing daughter.

So he took out his phone and dialed a number that he had known too clear.

“Steve, I need your help. Please gather the team and come here as soon as possible.”

The last time Steve came to the Tower was a few weeks after their celebration feast.

He came to check up on Tony’s condition, knowing too clear how much damage that the Infinity Stones had done to Tony’s body. He remembered seeing how the man had been upset and worried before finally opened up and told Steve about what had happened. He remembered how he had advised him about letting Penny to join in a supporting group instead of having one on one therapy session. Steve had had years of experiences when came to supporting group, he knew how effective it could be and he had met many who had the same profession like him in that field. Lina was one in a few people that he had found great potential in and had believed in her ability, so after listening to Tony, he had suggested to let the teenage girl join in Lina’s new supporting group. And his friend had agreed after talking with the girl’s aunt.

And now, a month (?) later, and the girl was missing after leaving a note. A very short note.

Steve knew Tony was very worried just from how he had been acting in their previous call, but now, to see the man in person, he finally got to see the real damage that this whole thing had done to him.

Steve saw the girl’s aunt, May, wasn’t it? She was sitting in the living room with Pepper and Happy. Her forehead was on her hand and her long red hair was covering most of her face, but Steve could still saw her puffy eyes and tears stained cheeks. Happy was sitting next to her, keeping a grounding hand on her shoulder, while Pepper was on the other side, silently rubbing her arm in a comfort motion. They both looked tired and sad, in Pepper’s case, her eyes were also red.

Rhodey was the one that went to greet them. He also looked exhausted, the way he tried to smile looked more like a grimace to Steve. He led him and the rest of the team down to Tony’s lab, where the man was trying to find his daughter.

Tony somehow looked worse. His hair was messy, his eyes trained at the holo screens as he focusing on scanning them. The air in the lab was strained, to say the very least.

Steve remembered his short call with Clint right before they left the Compound…

_“So the kid just…left, and Tony couldn’t find her?”_

_“Yeah. Just left a single note behind, the one that I just read for you.”_

_He and Nat were sitting in front of Clint’s hologram while the others went to prepare._

_“I wish I could help.” Clint said after a moment “And I know I’m a superspy and all, but finding people isn’t really my thing, especially if modern technology can’t help. It’s more of Nat’s field. And…” he looked at something behind “I don’t know if I can leave them here yet.”_

_“Yeah, yeah, I know, we understand. I just want to inform you about this, that’s all.” Steve was quick to reassured the archer. He understood, really he did. After the whole five years, it was obvious that Clint wasn’t ready to leave his family yet._

_“So, have you know why the kid left yet?”_

_“No, we haven’t. At least from what Rhodey and Tony told us, they haven’t known the reason yet.” Natasha replied, a frown on her face as she talked._

_“I just really don’t understand how could the girl could do such a thing?” Steve exclaimed, frustrated “I know that she is still a kid and all, and she was naïve but…does she not think about the others?! I mean from what Tony had talked about her, I thought she would be more considerate and care about everyone else that surround her, not just leave and doesn’t give a fuck about the others!”_

_Nat and Clint just stared at him. When Natasha opened her mouth to say something, Clint started._

_“That’s a dangerous thing to say in front of Tony and the girl’s aunt. What you just said must stay between us, do you understand, Steve?”_

_The archer was oddly serious that made Steve was taken back. He asked in confusion._

_“Wha…why?”_

_“Steve, we aren’t in the right place to judge about the girl’s decision. We didn’t know her clear enough nor the situation that she was in when she made that choice.” Clint stated calmly “Beside what you just said can probably cause strong reaction from anyone who really involved in this. I mean Tony, the girl and their family. Furthermore, since we didn’t know why she did it, I think we probably don’t have enough understanding about what she had gone through. Children only leave if they don’t feel safe and loved enough.”_

_“What do you mean Clint? Are you saying that Tony may be in the wrong about this?!”_

_“I didn’t say that!” Clint snapped “I did not say that, Steve! Stop being so touchy! I just said the obvious!” he took a deep breath before continue “What I want to say is…it’s a possibility. I’m a dad of three kids, two of them are teenagers, I know enough about this, okay? Parenting is…hard, very hard. You won’t understand if you are not one yourself. Sometimes, even if we loved our kids more than anything, we still fuck up. It’s not something we get to choose, it’s more of something we are destined to make. No one is flawless, especially in parenting.”_

_He paused then continue “The kid, I mean Penny, she is a teenage girl. Teenagers are often very sensitive, especially girls. While the girls seem to be more mature than boys, they are actually bottle up all their emotions and thoughts, they almost never say what they think outright. Beside, everyone who just came back from the snap has some problems with adjusting. And in the case, Penny, from all the things that she had gone through, it’s hard to talk about what could be the true problem behind this. I mean, maybe Tony and her aunt, or someone had done or said something that hurt her, even if it’s not their intention. I think the only solution for this is to sit down and try to communicate with each other. You, we, can only help by searching for the girl. Don’t try to interfere, Steve. Not in this, okay?”_

Steve knew that Clint was right and all the thing he could do to help Tony was trying to find for the missing girl. He had to take this completely serious, like any other mission, this was a family thing after all.

“Tony, we are here, what should we do to help?”

After a discussion, they started their searching plan. Steve, Bucky and Natasha would help finding the girl on the ground, while Rhodey and Sam, along with three Iron Man suits would search from the sky in case the drones had missed something. Tony was forced to stay back at the Tower due to his current health condition, instead, the man would send his suits out and watched from the Tower. Bruce wasn’t there to help them, a part of it was about of his arm while the other reason was because searching wasn’t really his field and he was in the other side of the country, giving lectures to students of some universities. Still, the man had promised them to fly back as soon as he could, but that would be until the end of the week.

They tried to ignore the public and just focus on searching Penny, but they couldn’t find her. After two days, Pepper decided they had to address the problem to the public. She said she would handle the press herself and told them to just focus on their main task. Anyone could see that Pepper was glad that she finally had something to do to help, she wasn’t the type of woman who just sitting around and do nothing. Furthermore, she was very anxious and worried, she needed something to do to distract her. So they let her do it after discussing about how they want to announce it.

They came up with a story about the girl who was Tony’s niece, and she had gone missing without a trace a few days ago. Since she was a specialist and was related to Avengers tech, she was in danger. It was not a perfect excuse, but definitely better than telling everyone that she was Spider Girl. To assure the worried citizens, they promised to retreat all the drones back by the end of the week, it was something they must do. The government was being pissed off after all.

It was a race with time. If they can’t use the drones to search anymore, they would lose a great advantage, and from how they had lost their time and still couldn’t find the girl, it sure would be so much harder. They use the drones all days and nights, trying to extend the area that they were searching, but found nothing. Bruce came back on Friday’s night, helping them with scanning the footage. Tony’s heart condition worsened as he was so stressed, so Bruce had to give him some kind of pills that helped his heart rate evened.

They used the drones to the last minutes before retreating them, but they still couldn’t find the missing girl. It was so hard to believe. They, the Avengers, Earth’s mightiest heroes, who had saved the world countless time before, failed to find a fifteen years old girl. Even if that girl had superpower, it was still so hard to believe. The technology that the drones were using was alien tech! They had planned carefully, even if the girl was scared that she ran from New York, she couldn’t escape the secret mobile cameras system that was everywhere at the station, airports, etc… beside, if she used any kind of things like her id card or passport, they would have been notify. What the hell?!

So, Natasha, always the calm, collected and logic person of the team, came to a conclusion. They were hacked.

FRIDAY’s system must have been hacked, at least in some way, that made them could not find the girl. Penny must have done something with the AI’s coding. This was a possibility. Tony said she was smart, very smart, and he had taught her about coding himself after all. If she wasn’t who did it, then someone could have helped her.

But no matter how Tony had tried to find any trace of hacking, Bruce even helped him with it, he found nothing. Completely nothing. There was countless line of codes, so it was possible that he missed something, but anyone who did it must be a good hacker, a great one.

The Avengers kept going to find the girl, they only promised the public to retreat the drones so it should be fine. Tony was worried out of his mind by the next Monday. Penny had been missing for a whole week, and he still couldn’t find her.

Natasha asked him when she lent him the...nth cup of coffee, no one could possible keep track of it with the consuming speed of Tony.

“Have you gone to her school yet?”

Tony almost chocked on his drink. With Penny being missing, no one, even May or Pepper, bothered about small detail like calling the school or anything.

“No. But I’m pretty sure that we will know if she came to school at all last week. I hacked every single of camera system around the city, remember?”

“Yeah, but we are also assuming that someone, possibly Penny, hacked FRIDAY. You also said that she had a weird obsess with school, right? Beside we can go there to find some clue as to why she left.”

…that was really…reasonable. Why did he, Tony Stark, nor anyone else think about this before?

“…the last footage that include Penny at school was recorded at about nine in the morning last Monday. Nothing about when she left school, which was really ridiculous, because she was here at nine in the evening the same day before disappearing.”

Natasha nodded and commented.

“That’s really suspicious, don’t you think?”

Tony slowly nodded, realization dawn on his face as he told his female teammate.

“…Yeah. Nat, please continue searching through these cameras feeds for Penny. I need to go to Midtown High with her aunt.”

Natasha gave him a curt nod and said.

“Go. I will handle it here.”

Tony along the school hallway that led to the principal’s office along with May and Happy, ignoring every shocked and curious pair of eyes. The three of them still looked tired despite wearing formal suits and drank a good amount of coffee. In the case of May, the puffy eyes were the most noticeable thing. The woman already washed her face and tried to help her swollen eyes with ice on the way here, but that did not work really well. Even so, as she walked along with Happy and Tony, she still looked really calm and collected. She was keeping herself together fairly well and Tony would have to give her credits for that, he wasn’t sure if he hid the emotions that he was feeling really well despite being a celebrity for entire life.

“Hello. We are Penny Parker’s family, who is a student here. We would like to meet the principal, can you please inform him?”

He told the secretary who was sitting outside of the office door. The woman looked up from the computer and Tony could see the confusion wrote over her face before it morphed into shock as she realized who he was. Her jaw actually dropped before she was able regain her composure and replied them.

“Oh, okay. Please wait here for a moment please.”

She then stood up and walked toward the office, shooting a worried and confuse glance at them. Again, the confuse wasn’t lost on Tony. She might be confused as why he was here, but before she even knew who was asking her, she already seemed puzzled. Why though?

The secretary quickly came back along with a man who Tony believed to be the principal. He had come here and met the man several times in the past to pick Penny up, but that was years ago and Tony forgot many people. The man had the same look as the secretary, still worried and confused, he hid his nervousness pretty well, but Tony could see it.

“Hello. My name is James Morita, I’m the current principal of this school. Uh, nice to meet you again Mr. Stark, and Mrs. Parker too. Uh, shall we talk in my office?”

They agreed and followed the man into the office. From his blurry memories, it seemed like it didn’t change too much even after five years. They took a sit and when Mr. Morita offered them something to drink, May cut him off.

“Thank you Mr. Morita, but we just have coffee on the way here. We are not thirsty. My name is May Hogan, I’m the legal guardian of Penny Parker. We came here to talk about her.”

The man blinked in surprise but before he could get any word out, Tony already started talking.

“I’m sure your school has noticed Penny’s absence. She is currently missing and we are trying to find her. We come here to…”

“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sorry to cut you off, Mr. Stark, but Penny is missing?”

Morita had the shocking feeling that drawn all over his face. Tony blinked in surprise before responding.

“Yes. She is missing and we are trying to find her right now. She is the niece that my wife had mentioned in our earlier press conference. I thought your school had noticed her absence?”

The man looked puzzled that had replaced the earlier shock on his face. And just to say, the next thing he said wasn’t what Tony had thought about.

“No, sir. I’m sorry but the last time she came here was the last Monday. She left the school right after she took the papers with her.”

“What paper?”

“Uh, the graduation papers. Ms. Parker took it after she gave me the signed slips.”

“Excuse me? Graduation papers?”

This time it was May who voiced the confusion of the three of them. Her eyebrows were rising and her mouth was gaping a little. Principal Morita looked taken aback.

“Yes, ma’am. She had officially graduated from this school since the last Monday. If I remember correctly, it was you who signed all the slips.”

May looked so shocked as she stuttered.

“No, no, I didn’t…”

“Wait, wait, hold on. You said she had graduated, right? How could it be possible? I thought she just came back to school for like, 2 months?”

This time it was Happy who asked Mr. Morita. Tony was too shocked to actually do anything other than stared at the man.

“Yes, sir. She had graduated. After passed a string of tests with flying color, of course. She had started doing all the tests after two weeks at school. Ms. Parker came here and demanded to be graduate as soon as possible, and accept my suggestion about the tests.”

“Do you know why she want to graduate?”

Tony asked. May hadn’t said anything about this, and she looked so surprised just like him and Happy, she probably didn’t have a clue about any of this.

“She said she didn’t get on well with the others, and she believed that my school couldn’t offer her any useful thing anymore.”

The man replied after a moment of trying to remember. Tony nodded and looked at May and Happy. The two of them still had the shocked look on their face, but now it was mixed with pain. Yeah, pain, just like how Tony was feeling. They all didn’t know that Penny was struggling at school about friends, it was probably true since her two friends already moved on because they weren’t snapped. She was in pain, but they didn’t know, because she didn’t tell them, because they didn’t ask her.

“Can we see the papers? And the tests too, please.”

Morita nodded hesitantly, eyes worried as he stood up and walked toward a file cabinet. He opened the lowest drawer and started searching, within the minute, he took out a manilla file folder and gave it to Tony. He took it immediately, normally, he wouldn’t like anyone lending him anything, but the situation was so exceptional that he didn’t bother to care.

Tony opened the file and saw the photos of graduation paper, tests and…the signed slips. He quickly glanced at those and recognized that it was exactly like May’s signature, he could see it in Happy and May’s eyes as he lent them the papers.

“This…but I didn’t…”

May stuttered and Mr. Morita let out a small grimace.

“I’m sorry. It was too much alike. I didn’t realize that she…”

He trailed off and sighed. Honestly, Tony didn’t blame the man, he wasn’t able to find his daughter even with the most intelligent system in the world anyway, faking a signature couldn’t be that hard compare to what Penny had already done.

Tony took a closer look at the other papers. He could see the tests result and to be honest, he was a quite proud, Penny managed to pass all of them with such high mark, and the knowledge that was tested wasn’t all that easy for a kid at Penny’s age. But the kid had always been an exception for everything, even if it’s not always a good thing.

Tony then asked to make a copy for the signed slips so they might be able to investigate further. The principal immediately agreed and he wished them good luck as he saw them off.

They came back at the Tower after a drive filled with heavy silence. May went back to her own room immediately, she looked even sadder if that could be possible and Happy went with her. Tony came to the living room to inform the rest about what he had found. No one said anything. Pepper buried her face into her hands, some sighed. Tony went back to his lab to resume his work, he had no time to waste.

About fifteen minutes later, Natasha came in with a pink backpack in her hand. Tony realized it was Penny’s.

“I found it in her personal lab, under one of the station. The graduation papers are all in there, along with this.”

She held a black credit card, the card that Tony had given Penny years ago. He took it and they stayed in silence for a moment before saying.

“She withdrew one thousand dollars at two in the afternoon last Monday. There are eighteen million dollars in this card, I just gave back to her through Happy after I woke up. She has never use it before. And somehow she was able to hide from us, disable FRIDAY’s searching ability, removed trackers, changed both my and her AIs coding, graduated from high school. It must have been planned carefully. She must have needed time to do all of it. And no one, not even me, realized anything. And she is a 15 years old kid.”

Natasha’s eyes saddened as she looked at him. She sighed and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but all Tony did was stared at the black credit card in his hand like it held the answer for every question that he was having. After a moment, he murmured.

“She isn’t a child who would do a stunt like this. There must be a reason to why she did it. A serious one. But I don’t know what it is. Why? Aren’t I supposed to be her dad, to understand her the most? Why didn’t I notice, Nat? Why?”

Natasha didn’t reply. She didn’t have the answer for him, not a pleasant one from what she was suspecting. From what she learned from the short note that the kid left behind, it must have been something with Tony and the adults surrounded her. Must be something with the whole five years. But Natasha couldn’t bring herself to answer her broken friend, already knew this confirmation would shatter him.

They continue to search by themselves for another week before Pepper finally raised her voice.

“We should involve the police.”

That’s what she said during their dinner. To find the girl, the team had been staying at the Tower, just like old time, with May and Happy were their frequent guests. Even if the two of them didn’t want to, they still need to work and working help them distract themselves from the harsh reality too. The couple called almost every hour and spent dinners with them. May was almost isolating with the other if it wasn’t for Happy. She looked like she had aged years after only a few days. Pepper tried to be as calm as possible, and arrange a routine in her family for Morgan and Tony. She was trying, but the last few days mustn’t have done too good on her.

Tony looked up from his pasta dish, he wasn’t the only one who did it.

“You think so?”

“Yes. I don’t think this is effective.”

Tony scoffed. He didn’t mean to lash out at Pepper, but he was too tired and stressed to control his emotions.

“Yes, Tony!”

Pepper said, raising her voice. The whole table tensed.

“How could the police do better than the Avengers, huh Pepper?”

“Because they had more people than us! And I cannot take this anymore!”

Pepper shouted, she seemed to ready to stand up right then and there. But then, her shoulder slumped, and she told Tony with watery eyes.

“We need help, Tony.”

“…okay.”

The male police officer cleared his throat and said to Tony, who was sitting opposite of him along with his wife and May. The avengers stood around them.

“So, from what you said, your niece, who was announced as missing a two weeks ago disappeared on Monday night three weeks ago. You cannot find her anywhere even with the help of technology and the Avengers, is it right Mr. Stark?”

“Yes.”

Tony nodded. The man continued.

“You also had scanned through traffic camera system and the one in the stations and airport.”

“Yes.”

“She had withdrawn one thousand dollars through her own credit card, and from what you could find, she also brought her phone, laptop and watch, all of them were Stark Industry’s products. However, you couldn’t track her down. All she really left behind was the short note that you showed us.”

“Yes.”

“You really don’t know the reason why she left? Not a certain one?”

Mr. Miller, the officer, asked again and Tony sighed tiredly as he shook his head. The two police officers looked at each other, before the female one, Ms. Taylor, hesitantly said.

“Alright, Mr. Stark. It seemed like that’s all. We will try our best, but may I make a suggestion?”

Everyone looked at her with full attention as Pepper said.

“Yes, please say.”

“It might sounds weird but… have you consider calling a therapist yet? It can help this case.”

“How so?”

Tony asked, surprised.

“Since we don’t know for certain about why your niece left, you can describe about her to a therapist to receive a good diagnosis. Even if this is not 100% correct, it will still give us another part of this picture.”

Tony’s eyes lit up, everyone else also looked hopeful. This…could work.

“Alright. We will talk to a therapist right away. Thank you for your suggestion, Ms. Taylor.”

“It’s nothing, Mrs. Stark.”

Then the two officers stood up and gave them nods as they shook their hands to say goodbye.

“Please contact us if you have anything news.”

“Of course, we will. We will do our best. Also, the NDAs that you sent have been signed, we will deliver it as soon as possible.”

“Alright, thank you.”

The moment the two of them stepped inside the car, Thomas Miller breathed in relief. His partner, Melinda Taylor looked at him and said.

“Why don’t you tell them? I knew you want to.”

“How could I, Melinda?” he said as he started the car and began to drive from the parking lot “How could I tell the man who just literally saved half of the universe that his kid’s life maybe at risk? And she could have already dead?”

Melinda stayed silent. It was true. Even if the girl had brought money and stuff with her, there was a high chance that she was already dead. Because if she wasn’t, then maybe she was kidnapped by a terrorist organization or something like that. If it’s not, then how could she possibly escape the Avengers? The note was also alarming. They could say it directly to them like how they did to the other family, but this was Tony Stark! They couldn’t exactly do that!

This case wasn’t _good_ at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long break and all, I know, but the last week has been exhausting to everyone in my country. I won't get in the details but anyway,...  
> The new chapter! Longer than any other that I have posted! Considered as three chapter for me, yeah?  
> And for the next chapter, we will see how I continue to torture Tony! And the adults!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! I would probably say more if it isn't five in the morning already.  
> Pls, pls comment! Kudos are also appreciated!  
> The next chapter will be updated soon!


	16. A confirmation.

Morgan, his sweet little daughter, was the sole reason for why he could pass the last five years without drowning in sorrow.

His wonderful wife, Pepper, was the person that made him be able to stand after all the shit that happened because of Thanos, but Morgan was the one who had made living so much more easier. She was the blessing that shown how the universe at least, to some degree, still have mercy for his already fucked up life.

He knew very clear how mess up his life was from the beginning, but in stead of complaining how tragic, how unlucky he was to have a life like that, he drove himself into works. He like science, like creating new things, like doing experiments, tinkering was his favorite hobby. It was very distracting, it took his mind out of most negative thoughts, a way to deal with everything that he had created. He ran away from the true problems that he was facing by working non stop. He draw a perfect picture of a genius scientist but also a super rich playboy to the press, the whole world only saw him as a douchebag who didn’t care about anyone. A true heartless person.

Then, Iron Man was a thing. Some thought that he was a hero, some believed it was just a way to pay for what he had done, the others agreed that he only did it for publicity. Well, he didn’t really care about their opinions. He had passed that phase years ago since he was still a six year old kid.

He couldn’t stop being Iron Man, or at least he thought so, after what he had gone through, what he had seen since Afghanistan. He truly believed that he was still alive for some reasons, whatever it was, it must have been enough important to make the universe not kill him yet. He still believed it, but that was until before the Snap, before he lost Penny.

Many wanted to become a part of Tony Stark’s circle, for obivious reasons of course. But after years of taking part in this ‘social life’, he already had enough experience to see through anyone’s smiling face. He had met those kind of people all the time, it was child’s play to him. And because of it, he built more and more walls around himself, not letting anyone else in, except the one who were already in it. He had Pepper, Rhodey and Happy, it wasn’t much, but it was enough to him. Quality outweight quantity, he reasoned.

He let the Avengers team in, and what they left behind was nothing more than gaping wounds that could never be able to fully healed. So he was even more determent to not let anyone else in than before, he kept Penny at arm length and intended to keep it like that, he wasn’t prepared to have another ‘break up’ like what had happend in Siberia.

But Penny was an exception, she was always an exception. No matter how hard he tried, the walls just kept breaking down. The girl just didn’t care about how unprepared Tony was to let a teenage girl inside his small circle. She just stepped in and stuck there, immovable.

It was like the girl had some kind of magic. She charmed Tony and everyone who was close to him, even Happy, just by being herself. She always said she was only ‘a nobody’ without Spider Girl, but he knew she was special. Penny stuck with him when he was at one of the lowest point of his life, she didn’t want anything from him yet she was still there. There wasn’t much people who came to him and didn’t want anything like her, even if Penny wasn’t having the best life. She stayed with him and helped him close his gaping wound.

Penny’s situation was somewhat like his. She lost her parents and her uncle when she was young, _too young,_ she was a true genius and she was a hero. But, at the same time, she was also the anti-Tony Stark in many ways. She was smart yet humble, she was kind, always eager to help and never expect to receive anything back, she was strong, both mentally and physically, she refused to run away. She was already better than most of them, with a little help, she could make wonders to the world. That was exactly what Tony want to offer her.

She was already so much better than him, still, she looked up to him with unfazed trust. Tony was scared, but whenever he looked at the girl’s eyes, he knew for sure that he couldn’t let her down. So, he was determent to become a better person, to deserve her trust, to be enough capable to help her. Penny was the one that had helped him, despite the fact that he was her ‘mentor’.

She was his savior.

After a few months, they grew even closer. They had built a strong relationship that wasn’t only mentor-mentee anymore, he could say that it was something more. Despite the fact that she was the one that had helped him heal, Penny was still just a child. She needed help, guidance and affection, something that he had grown to willingly give it to her. Become the sole male figure in the girl’s life was one of the biggest role that he had ever taken, and he was determent to do his best. He had made plans, secured her future, she could go to any university she want, and if she doesn’t like it, she could go anywhere to have more experience. She could do anything, he would help her do it, if she want. He installed countless protocol into her Spider suit so she would be safe when she went out for patrol.

Tony had planned to help Penny to have the best future she could ever have. Because she deserved better, Penny would always deserve better. And he would be damned if he can’t help her.

Then Penny was dusted, and all plans shattered.

She went in his arms, while begging him for help. She looked so small, so young, just like the child she was. She was crying and he could see the pain in her eyes, but he was helpless. Penny had saved him from the abyss that had tried to swallow him, but Tony couldn’t help her back. He couldn’t save her, couldn’t comfort her as she panicked, because he was useless and was being drowned in fear himself. There wasn’t any protocol that would be able to help her, there wasn’t any plan for that. Even in his wildest dream, Tony had never dreamed about that kind of situation. So she was gone. After apologized to Tony.

His kid, even when she was dying, she didn’t forget to comfort him. She knew too clear about the real person behind his arrogant mask. With those two simple yet meaningful words, she had taken away a big part of his heart with her.

So when Morgan appeared, Tony knew this was his second and also last chance. He tried to do his best, a part of it was because he was full of regrets. Regret that he didn’t do enough for Penny, regret that he had thought they had so much more time. It was unfair, but sometimes, when waves of sorrow crashed him again and again, he saw Morgan as a painful reminder of Penny.

Reminder that he had lost his first kid, and because of him, she would never come back anymore.

He wrapped Morgan with layers of love and protection. He tried to give his little girl a normal childhood, showered her with attention and shielded her from any possible threat. And he thought that he had done good.

Then his old friends appeared at his door.

At first, he refused. He was having his second chance, and he had a family, a daughter now! He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t be able to bear that pain one more time, he would break, completely this time. He couldn’t take the risks, he might lose everything.

But, as a few hours passed, he had changed his mind.

There was this voice, it whispered to him inside his head, saying things and tried to convinced him.

_Just one more time_ , it said, _just try one more time, no harm done. Just try to make it work. You don’t even know if you would really be able to make it work, right? Just try. It’s okay. You want her back, don’t you? Don’t you think it is unfair to her that you had gave up on her? Penny doesn’t deserve it, does she?_ It convinced him.

And…gosh. He did, he really did want her back. He wanted to see her again, listen to her endless rambling about every little thing, see her cheerful smile. He wanted to have her back in his arms, warm and safe. He wanted to see her running around the house, playing with Morgan, listen to their laugh echoed in every place of his cabin. He wanted so desperately to have her back, living and safe, not just a person that live in those bedtime stories that he told Morgan.

So after taking a single look at their picture together, he decided.

_Just try_ , he thought to himself, _it’s nearly impossible. It may won’t work. It’s okay._

It worked. He had half expected the opposite. But it had worked. Maybe Thanos was right, he really was cursed with knowledge. He hesitated, it had been done, what now?

Should he try to save Penny? It could risk his second chance. It could ruin everything he had tried to build and protect in the past five years.

But Pepper was right, like how she always did, and Tony knew this. He wouldn’t be able to stay behind, not after figure out a very possible way to save Penny. Sooner or later, even if it was for Morgan and Pepper, he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back.

So he went, betting everything in this trip. And it was worth it.

The moment he saw Penny, alive, breathing and rambling to him again, he knew that he had made the right choice. He had pulled the girl into the tight hug, feeling her warm in his arms and relieved because she was _solid_. Not dusting, but solid.

That’s moment, he had sworn to himself that he would live and made up for her for the last five years. He had sworn.

And that was exactly why they were in this situation.

Tony wasn’t stupid. He was a fucking genius, he was smart enough to see the obvious. The reason why Penny left, he could tell pretty much from the note that she had left behind. He bet his entire fortune that everyone was able to drawn some conclusions, at least to a certain extend, about it. But they, just like him, were in denial, or just didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Tony knew why, and that was the problem.

He couldn’t fucking believe it. Penny ran away because of them. Because of him.

Tony knew more than just enough about his kid. He knew that Penny wasn’t the type of kid who is rebellious, naïve or hot headed. She was very mature and thoughtful, always cared about everyone around her. She took responsibility very seriously and always didn’t want to bother anyone else. She didn’t want to upset them, or make them worried. But she had chosen to run away, even if she could guess how they would be after she done it.

She had to be very desperate to leave like that. Penny must have wanted nothing more than to leave them to plan such a full proof plan like that, a plan that not even him and the Avengers could crack easily. And that was what that hurt him even more.

They had failed Penny, to the point that she didn’t want to stay anymore and had chosen to leave, without even noticing until it was already too late.

They were the adults, the one that had the duties to take care, protect and make the girl feel safe and loved. But they had failed, and Penny had left. Maybe this was what they really deserve, to suffer, for what they had done and hadn’t done for Penny.

This, it was their faults. And Tony knew that.

“Mrs. Small had arrived. She is currently waiting in the assigned room in the Medical bay.”

Tony stood up from the couch and smooth the front of his blazer. His wife, Pepper, stepped into the room, wearing a white office dress, her face etched with sadness.

“Tony.”

She called softly as they walked toward the elevator. He nodded at her and held out his elbow, she grabbed it and Tony could feel a gentle squeeze.

“Let’s go.”

Together, they stepped into the elevator. The two were soon joined by Happy and May, who had stayed in their temporary for the last few days. Tony could see sadness along with something like defeated on May’s face, and he wondered if he had the same expression. He didn’t dare to look at himself in the mirror this morning, scared that he would see the defeat in his own expression. Tony couldn’t afford that, not right now, when he couldn’t let himself give up.

Nobody said anything the whole way to the Medical Bay, the only thing they could hear was the clicking sound of their shoes made when they came in contact with concrete floor.

Tony opened the door and stepped inside, the others followed suit. Inside, sitting on a spinning chair behind a white desk was a woman in her thirties. She gave them a professional smile as they settled down on the chairs in front of the desk.

“Hello, my name is Elena Small. I have received your emails two days ago about your situation. Let start discussing this, shall we?”

Mrs. Small was a very good therapist who had graduated from Princeton. She was very experienced and had taken care of several case related to the Snap victims, so Pepper had emailed her right after the cops left. They had personally answered questions about Penny and sent them to the woman. Tony gave her a reluctant nod, already dreaded this whole thing. He knew, better than anyone, this…this was just a confirmation for what they already certain.

“From what you have described Penny,” Mrs. Small looked at the note pad in her hands “I can picture how she really is. But, I want to ask you some more questions, is that alright?”

“Please go ahead.”

“Mrs. Hogan, from what you wrote here, Penny has been a very good girl since she was small right? Like, the kind of a perfect little girl?”

May nodded and answered.

“Yes. She has always been such a good girl. She behaved, always tried to help out around the house as much as she could and got perfect grade.”

“Has she ever throw a tantrum?”

“…Yes. But only sometimes, she is very well behaved ever since she was small.”

“You adopted her right? After her parents died in the plane crash. Do you know her before that?”

“Yes, and I knew her since she was born. I have held her when she was still in the hospital. Her uncle and I used to visit her and her parents before she had to come and live with us.”

“What was she like back then? Do you remember? Have she ever nagged you for something back then?”

May was clearly surprised with the question, but she still answered it.

“Yeah,… I think she did. Sometimes,…for presents or sweet.”

“What about after she came to live with you? Did she still do it?”

“…No. No, not really. She…has become very mature and understanding for her age.”

“What do think about that change?”

“Her uncle and I used to think that it was because of her parents’s death. It must have affected her.”

Mrs. Small nodded at May and wrote down some notes on her pad. After she finished, she looked up again and started asking once more.

“So, what about the others? What do you think about Penny? How about you, Mr. Stark?”

Tony stiffened.

“Yes?”

“You said in the email that you and Penny were quite close to each other, is that right?”

“Yes. We were close. She used to spend the nights at the Tower for her internship. We talked quite much during it.”

“How clear do you think you know about her? Can you give me some examples of what you know about her and the others might not?”

“Uhh…She has a favorite Iron Man plushy and always hugs it whenever we have a movie night.”

Mrs. Small let out a surprised laugh, while the others, even May, let out chuckles. Tony smiled at that, but the smile didn’t last long. The memory was sweet but also bitter, it reminded him of their current situation.

“She sure is an Iron Man’s fan, huh? So what do you think about her? Do you have the same thoughts as Mrs. Hogan?”

“Yeah, yeah. I mean, she is a very good girl. Well mannered, smart, a little shy at first but also quite talkative. She also reluctant to receive things, even if it was a present.”

“Very reluctant to receive things, you say?”

“Yes. She hesitated whenever I want to give her something. It was quite hard to make her receive things.”

Mrs. Small hummed and started writing down in her notepad. She turned to Happy and Pepper.

“Mr. Hogan, you didn’t write much in the email. Can you tell me what do you think about Penny?”

The old bodyguard hesitated.

“I…I didn’t have much chance to interact with her before the snap. I only met her when I drove her to the Tower for the internship. And after the snap, we…didn’t talk much. Almost avoiding each other, and I didn’t press it because I knew my new position in her eyes. But from the past experiences, I think she is a very chatty and energetic girl, a little close off at first. She’s also very kind and like to help people.”

Tony knew that Happy had beaten himself up in silence after Penny ran away. He thought it was his faults that she left, but no matter how much May and Rhodey tried to convince him that it wasn’t true, he still didn’t believe them.

Mrs. Small gave him a reassuring smile and asked Pepper the same question. His wife had the almost similar answer to Happy’s, only different in the way she phrased it.

“So, from what I gathered, Penny was a perfect girl who never demand anything.” They nodded in agreement before she continued “But she had snapped at a boy several weeks ago, who was ‘quite rude to her’.”

“Yes.” Tony said “She never get angry at anyone, not enough to stormed away like that anyway. And although I didn’t mind that she had snapped because he was rude to her, I think she had a right to do that, I still feel worried because that was out of character. To me, it seems like her emotional control wasn’t good like it used to be.”

“Well, anybody have their snapping point.”

“Yes, I know that. However, I think it’s unusual compare to how calm she often is.”

“I see.” Mrs. Small nodded in understanding “If she never got mad at anyone like you say, then it must have been quite a shock to see her like that. Is that why you started sending her to a supporting group?”

“Yes, along with other reason. She seemed to be having a hard time to adjust.”

“Yes, yes, I can understand your way of thinking. But, in here,” the woman looked into her note “You said that you sent her to the supporting group and she didn’t like it. What do you mean about ‘didn’t like it’? Did you force her to do it? Did you talk to her about this beforehand?”

This time, it was May who answered the questions.

“N…no. Not really. No.” she said hesitantly “We didn’t say anything, we worried that she wouldn’t want it.”

The therapist let out a small wince and Tony’s heart sank even further.

“That’s not really a good choice. Why do you do that if Penny really was a well behaved girl?”

“…”

“Did something else happen before that? Or it was about the problems from your side?”

“There was an incident…”

May started but Pepper cut her off gently.

“They had a fight a day or two before that. Because May didn’t keep her uncle’s present. Penny was quite mad that day too.”

“Hmmm. I understand. Although it would be the best to have her in person in order to figure out the problem, I have come to a conclusion.”

Everyone perked up, listening to her attentively.

“However, I need to ask another thing. Did she seek for praise? Or recognition? Like from someone who she really respected and looked up to? For example, Mr. Stark. You have taught her during the internship right?

The four were taken back. They obviously didn’t expect to receive this kind of question.

“Yes. She was quite eager to help me with many things.”

Tony said and Mrs. Small nodded. She started to say again.

“I believe Penny is a people pleaser.”

“…What?”

“You said she is well mannered, always has good grade and never demand anything. She is the definition of perfection. She seeked out for recognition from people who she respected. She always kind and calm, almost never got angry. Is that right?

“…”

“I am pretty sure that she is a people pleaser. She never demanded anything because she was neglecting herself. She wanted to be recognized for what she did and always eager to help.” She paused for a moment before continue “People pleaser is the kind of people who try to bottle up their emotions, they could be silently angry or upset at someone without letting anyone know. After a certain amount of time, they would explode and snap at people around her. Many would be very surprised to see them like that because to them, people who is a pleaser are beyond wise and patient compare to themselves. They are mostly introverts who often have problems with open communication. Many relationships are broken because of that. They are also the victim of stress and depression. They aren’t certain if they are good enough, they are scared of failing people surround them, they took responsibility a little too seriously. In other words, they are people with insecurities.”

Realization dawned on them. Tony buried his face into his hands, his head was throbbing like it was gonna exploded. How could they not realize anything? How could they not know that Penny had mental problems more than they thought since long before?

May, who was in the verge of tears, chocked out.

“Why couldn’t we realize it sooner?”

Yeah, Tony would love to know the answer to it too. Mrs. Small said with sympathy.

“It’s not easy to realize something like this. Most people pleaser act very normally and not everyone is able to notice littles details like that. Penny is adopted and she had lost her last true blood relative, of course she would be worry about being abandoned and tried to cover everything up even more. Kids who had experienced tragedies like her often have many insecurities. So, with coming back after five years and found out that everyone had moved on couldn’t be easy.”

Gosh, Penny must have been very desperate. But with this confirmation, Tony had finally really accepted the true. They, **he** had failed Penny. Tony needed fix this, even if it was the last thing that he did. Hopefully, he hadn’t been too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written in a hurry. Sorry for any error.
> 
> Pls, pls comment! Kudos are also very appreciated!


	17. Under the water

Five days later, and Tony still couldn’t forget the last word that Mrs. Small had told him.

Their session with the therapist didn’t end after they discovered the true problem that Penny was facing. Since its main reason was to know what had made Penny leave and get some advices about how to solve it (after they get the girl back of course), Mrs. Small had continued their ‘little chit-chat’ for another hour before leaving.

_“But you said that she had started demanding little things like ice cream take out and movie nights before the incident that happened five years ago right, Mr. Stark?”_

_“Yes. She had started to open more about what she liked and even agreed to receive some gifts that I offered her.”_

_“Hmmm…That’s must have been an improvement. A great one, actually. Most people pleasers struggle to demand things openly, even when it comes to something that they really need, since they worried about making others upset. If she had started to open up like that, she must have been really comfortable around you. That’s a really good sign, Mr. Stark.”_

_“That’s…nice to hear.”_

_And really, it did. He didn’t know much about people-pleasing symptoms, but it must have been something very serious. Especially when it came to Penny. The biggest problem then, however, was the fact that the girl was still missing._

_“But that raise another question.” Mrs. Small said while eyeing them “After an improvement like that appeared, what could possibly trigger Penny to act so drastic like that?”_

_“That’s…”_

_No one really knew what to say. Why? The question itself was why they were here in the first place, and while a hidden piece of this whole mess had been uncovered, there was still so much thing that they must have not known about. And that was the most fucked up thing. Because they were Penny’s family, they were the adults in this situation, but they didn’t know about Penny and her problems, not enough. They knew she had some struggle with PTSD and she was having a hard time adjusting to the new life, she had some insecurities that made her too shy sometimes. But they didn’t know she was a people pleaser with more mental health problems than they had thought nor that they would drive her away like this._

_They didn’t know, and how messed up was that?_

_“How much time you have spent with her ever since her come back?”_

_Mrs. Small finally asked after not receiving any answer._

_“We…we didn’t…I thought she need more time for herself. I didn’t know…I…”_

_May stuttered, her voice and her whole body shook while she seemed to be out of air. Happy had to rubbed his hand in circle motion on her back to make her calm down as Tony straightened his posture._

_“I…I didn’t spend much time with her. Only a few meetings.”_

_Tony said, voice wavered as he finally realized his mistake._

_Mrs. Small gave them a nod, she sighed in sadness._

_“I see. I understand the problems now. While I often advice many parents to let their teenager kids have more time for themselves and not to fuss over them too much, I think the problems in this situation is opposite. It’s hard to measure how much time you should spend with your children as different kid have different needs, but in Penny’s case, she need more attention. I know that you did pay attention to her and knew what problem she might having, but Penny didn’t know that. As a result, she might feel being left out. She was a child having problems with insecurities, so that is a huge possibility. In this odd situation, she might have thought that she is a burden, a person that you don’t need anymore. In most case with children who just came back from the snap, they admitted they had the same thought and they are kids from normal families who live with their biological family members. Penny, from the file that you have given me, didn’t have any living biological family member left, she of course will have even more worries. She needs reassurance from you to be sure that she isn’t a…redundant.”_

_Tony buried his face into his hands, the more he listened to Mrs. Small, the more he realized how much he had fucked up. This whole mess, it was his faults. He had failed Penny._

_“Moreover, if your family had welcomed another new family member during the five years when she was gone, a baby, who have similar role in the house like her, someone like…Mrs. Hogan, do you have any new niece or daughter, or someone resemblance that role in the last five years?”_

_“Yeah,” Happy nodded and answered instead as May was sobbing in his arms “she has a new niece.”_

_“That’s…may have worsened Penny’s situation. She may have view the other girl as someone who had taken her place. If that’s the case, then she could think that she isn’t needed anymore. Along with the feeling of being abandoned, we can understand why she acted so drastic like that. She didn’t feel like she is loved or needed, so she left. Many children run away from their homes every year, about 1.5 million if I remember correctly, and one of the most common reasons is not feeling like they are being loved. Penny is a girl who is in the age when she is most sensitive, so we can see why.”_

_Everyone fell into silence after that. A heavy silence that made Tony felt like he was being choked up, made he could not breathe properly._

Mrs. Small had to be the person to continue their talking. She appeased them that every parent make mistake sometimes and it wasn’t their intention to make Penny hurt. It wasn’t their faults, not really any way. She said sometimes we are too oblivious to see the obvious. She said that they were blinded by the happiness of having Penny back that they made mistakes. She said they shouldn’t focus on that part, instead of it, they should know how to fix the situation after Penny come back.

The therapist said that they should spend more time with each other, give Penny assurances that she was not a replaceable person, that she was a precious girl to them, that they loved her and care about her. She advised them about open communication and should consider it as the key of maintaining good relationships with each other. The woman told them to not try to rush the girl into therapy right after she come back since it can make even more damages.

Tony really tried to focus on her advice, but at that moment, the spiraling thoughts in his head continue to scream at him, telling him how much he had fucked up, how he had failed Penny. Tony had been given a second chance after five years of grieving and praying, but he had fucked up, again.

This was all his faults. Because of him, Penny had left. It’s all because of him!

After that, Mrs. Small bit all of them goodbye, but asked for a few minutes with him. When there was only two of them in the room, the woman had hesitated before finally ask him.

_“About that…I know that it’s not my place to ask for this information but…What has Penny bring with her? Before she left, I mean. Did she bring anything expensive or money?”_

_“Yes. Yes, she did. She brought about one thousand dollars. That’s what we guessed from the amount of money she had withdrawn before leaving.”_

_“Oh,…That’s…good. That’s nice.”_

_She nodding to herself before telling him that it was all she wanted to ask._

Tony left the room after that. He was smart, he could guess why the woman asked him that. There was a possibility, one that he didn’t want to think about, one that he couldn’t bring himself to talk to May, that…

Penny could be dead.

From the letter, she had mentioned ‘move on’ and it didn’t ease Tony’s worries at all. She could have left home and go somewhere to…to… He couldn’t bring himself to think about it. The thought itself made him nauseous and he could break down right away. But he couldn’t let himself broke down right now, when he still need to find Penny. His kid, he need to get her back!

The talk with the female therapist was five days ago. He had made a phone call with the police about the result of the talk right after coming back. The officer told him that this could make their searching mission a little easier and to wait for them to call him back whenever they had a new update.

That was five days ago. And right now, he was waiting. The police officer that was taking charge with their case called a few hours ago, asking if they could have a DNA example of Penny. He didn’t say why, not really, just said they need it as it seemed possible to make a progress. He promised that they would return the information related to Penny’s DNA as soon as they finish. Tony agreed as he knew the normal DNA’s test wouldn’t out the girl’s mutation. But there was a dreaded feeling formed in his stomach that seemed impossible to get away.

The officer didn’t say the real reason about this. It couldn’t be something good.

He waited for the news alone in the living and was staring out of the window when May came in and sat down on the opposite couch.

He turned his head to look at her, half expected for the woman to started talking right away. But, for a long moment, there was only silence. May didn’t look too good, but honestly, he didn’t think he looked good either. His whole body ached and his eyes were heavy because of the previous restless night. He knew Dr. Cho had told him to take it easy, with his heart problem and the sequelae of the snap, he couldn’t strain his body too much or he will collapse. But in this situation? Even though he had tried, he couldn’t sleep or rest.

May had bags under her eyes. She looked tired, her eyes were puffy and the gloomy air surrounded her. It felt like déjà vu to Tony to see her like that, wrecked with sadness and tiredness. Just like five years ago when they met the second time after the snap, and it had been months after the first meeting.

After Tony came back and went to the Parkers apartment to deliver the news. To tell May that Penny was gone.

“Why do they want Penny’s DNA?”

She finally spoke, voice low and unusual calm.

“I don’t know. They didn’t tell me the detail.”

Silence again, but this time, it ended faster with a sob from May.

“It’s not your faults. It’s not your faults, Tony.”

“Please, don’t lie to me, May. I already know the truth.”

“No, it’s not!” May snapped and the tears started to fall again, hadn’t May lost all her tears to cry already? “It’s not your faults, Tony. Please stop blaming yourself. It’s my faults.”

“May…”

“It’s not your faults! It’s mine! I am the one that had taken care for her for 10 years! I am the one that had watched her grow up! I’m her mother, the one that should have seen the underlying problems! I should have…I should have known.”

“And she is my kid, too.” Tony said, voice wavered “No matter what, I’m the one who take the role as an adult in her life. It’s my faults.”

“No, Tony. You didn’t know her as long as I am. And you were recovering. You didn’t have much time to spend with her. She was living with me, she has slept in the room next to mine, she has eaten dinner with me, for months! I’m the female figure in her life, she should have been able to tell me her problems, should have been able to seek for my care and understanding. I should have been able to tell the problems.”

“May,…we all know that time isn’t the thing to measure when it comes to understanding a person. I know I didn’t know her long like you, but I know her enough to understand her. It’s my faults. Even if I were recovering and couldn’t meet her, I should have called or texted. I should have try to spend more time after feeling much better. I should have made her understand that even when I have Morgan, she will still always be my first kid. I should have seen her struggle, should have pressed it more. I should have…”

Tony shook his head and let out a sad sigh.

“I know how you feel, May. I know. But we all know that I have messed up, big time.”

The woman sniffled and tried to wipe away her tears with her sleeves. She straightened her posture again before started talking.

“You won’t budge even if I try to convince you more, right?”

“No. Just give up.”

Tony answered. May shook her head and muttered under her breath “Fucking stubborn.”. Tony smirked, the tension in the air seemed to lessened.

“Fine.” May said “It’s _our_ faults.”

Tony huffed a small laugh at that.

“Let’s not focus on whose faults, yeah? Mrs. Small said we shouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah. Let’s focus on how to fix this.”

“Yeah…”

“…”

“…When we get her back, I will give her a bone crushing hug. I will go shopping with her for new clothes, maybe with Pepper, she has good sense of fashion. I will give her goodnight kisses before she goes to bed. She loves it, but always whines since ‘she is not a child anymore’ you know?”

Tony smiled “Yeah? She likes someone playing with her hair too. She often dozed off when I did that in our movies nights.”

“Yeah, she does.” May laughed “ I want to throw a fucking huge party to celebrate her graduation. You will take care of the cost, Stark.”

They laughed together and for a moment, Tony believed that everything will be okay. But the moment was too short.

The elevator door suddenly slide open as Pepper stepped in the room, following her were Happy and two police officers, Mr. Miller and Ms. Taylor. Tony and May immediately stood up, the air was tense again.

Mr. Miller stepped toward and offered his hand for a handshake with Tony and May as he said.

“I’m sorry for this unplanned visit. But we believe that this should be done here as soon as possible.”

“What’s the matter? Did you have any progress?”

Ms. Taylor cleared her throat before started replying.

“As you know, Mr. Stark, we had asked for Ms. Parker’s DNA example to make some few tests. It’s all done.”

Pepper walked pass the two officers to stand right next to Tony, her hand gripped his arm. Happy also follow the woman to stand next to May.

“Recently, there has been a report that attracted our attention. Some sailors on a boat had found a dead female body in Hudson river, two miles away from the George Washington Bridge. Since the body had been severely damaged, we need to make some tests to identify the woman. We worried that the corpse might belong to Ms. Parker.”

Tony felt like there was no air to breath, he could hear the others breath hitched. Mr. Miller quickly continued.

“The tests were negative. It’s not Ms. Parker.”

The relief flooded Tony’s whole body but seeing the expression on the face of the two officers, he knew something was wrong. So he asked.

“Then, what is the matter?”

“The corpse was found along with something else. And since it wasn’t on the dead body, we figure that it’s not belong to the woman.”

Mr. Miller answered as Ms. Taylor took out a coat, protected carefully with a plastic bag out of her suitcase. It was a grey jacket with a name embroidered on it with yellow thread.

“Does Ms. Parker have any jacket like this?”

May screamed and even when Tony didn’t look behind him, he could know the woman fell down on the floor while Happy tried to support her.

He had seen the jacket. The grey jacket with Penny’s name embroidered on it with yellow thread. The one that he had seen she wear countless time when she came to the Tower for their lab time. The one that she had excitedly told him that it was a present from May for her birthday and that her aunt had been the one who made it.

And the jacket was found under the water…in Hudson river…two miles away from the George Washington bridge.

Penny’s jacket…under the water…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in the end of the second months of quarantine, think I'm gonna go insane. My mom worried too much that she forbid me to step outside. Like, 100% serious. I'm not being dramatic.  
> Last week I was quite busy, the teacher threw another ton of homework and gave me deadlines. Gosh.
> 
> Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be up soon!
> 
> Pls, pls, comment! Kudos are also appreciated! And if you feel lazy or don't know what to comment or had already press kudo, then you just need to comment '<3'. I need to know if I'm writing alright.


	18. Health issues so...

Hey guys! This is not a chapter, I'm sorry!

I need to inform you about a bad news. The new chapter update will be delayed due to my health issues. I won't drop this project, I promise and I will come back as soon as I can.

I'm very sorry about this, I myself never wanted this to happen.

I also want to say thank you for the support you have given me. I'm really happy to read all your comments and see the number of kudos.

I will come back after feeling better, hopefully, it won't be too long.

From a nerd who like to write, 

Yumi

UPDATE:

Hello, it's me again! 

The weather has been warmer in the last two days, which is great for my migraine. I don't have any serious illness that I know of, however, since when I were young, I have never been the healthiest child. I often have migraine during cold weather, it's nothing serious but it's annoying as hell. I also hurt my right arm when tripped on the stair about a week ago, it has healed now.

So, the great new is, if everything go smoothly, we will have TWO chapters during the next two days. Also, I intend to make some edits for some of the previous chapters so you guys will probably receive many notifications. I will delete this to add the new chapter, maybe.

Thank you for all the wishes and support. I'm both surprised and thankful for them.

Thank you so much!!

I will see you guys again on the next chapter. Stay safe and healthy!

Yumi


	19. Never giving up on you

At first, there was just darkness, a real darkness without any light. Then Tony smelled the scent of lavender perfume. _Pep._ That familiar scent belonged to his wife, was she staying somewhere near him? And why there is something else mix with the scent? Was it…chloride? Why was it so dark here?

Then there was the beeping sound. A steady and annoying sound.

Was he in the Medbay?

Tony tried to open his eyes, because that must be why it was so dark. His eyelids were so heavy, after some failed attempts, Tony success.

Blinking his eyes a few time, the blurry scene in front of his eyes became clearer. He felt dazed as he looked around the room which was being shone by dimmed light. He was right, he was in the Medbay. How did he get here? And why? Did he pass out?

As he lying in the bed and tried to collect everything, he didn’t notice his wife stirred on the seat beside his bed. Seeing Tony had woken up, Pepper bolted upright, immediately started asking him.

“Tony? Are you awake? How do you feel? Do you feel hurt anywhere?”

He turned his eyes to look at her. His wife’s hair was tied into a messy bun, her eyes were puffy with bags under it. She looked pale and exhausted, she was having a relieve expression, however, as he looked closer, he could see the sadness in her eyes. Why was Pepper sad? Tony couldn’t remember, it almost seemed like his head was short circuit.

“Pep?...”

Pepper smiled at that and let out a sigh. She murmured, her tone soft.

“Scratch that. I will just call doctor Cho.”

She pressed a button on the bed then moved her hand to touch his face. Her soft hand cupped his cheek.

“I’m so glad you have wake up, Tony.”

He opened his mouth to ask about what had happened but right then, doctor Cho and two nurse walked into the room. Pepper turned away to give the doctor a nod and left his bedside. She walked out of the room after lingered a little bit at the door.

While check his IV, Cho told him.

“Let me do some tests, and then we can see if you are ready to go.”

Tony slowly nodded his head, still felt a little sluggish with each movement. He let Dr. Cho do whatever she needed to and didn’t say anything the whole time he was being examined.

“You are very lucky that it wasn’t a stroke or a heart attack, you wouldn’t be able to take it. Your body has been pushed to its limit with how you have strained it in the last month. The high stress has made you collapse.”

High stress? What…?

Then he remembered what had happened before he blacked out. Penny…did she…?

“Penny. What happened…?”

Dr. Cho sighed and put a comfort hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I will call Pepper, okay? You are good to go.”

The woman left the room seemingly to call his wife, leaving Tony to his own spiraling thoughts.

That’s right. The police officers had found a jacket which is certainly belonged to Penny along with a female corpse. While the DNA tests proved that the dead body didn’t belong to his kid, her jacket was under the water. There was a high chance that she had… there didn’t seem to have any other explanation for why the jacket was there. Penny wouldn’t just throw away her favorite piece of clothing into the Hudson river like that, and even if she did, it was a coincident that the jacket was found.

Pepper stepped in the room at that moment. She helped him standing up and the two of them left the room. Tony leaned on his wife to walk.

“You scared me, Tony.” Pepper said, her voice soft “You just collapsed. I tried to wake you up but you didn’t respond. Thankfully, it wasn’t a stroke or a heart attack. We both know that your body is still weak.”

Tony didn’t reply and they walked in silence again. When they came across an opened door, Tony glanced into it and froze.

May was sitting on a bed with her right hand cuffed into the railing in the bedside. Her red hair was untied and let to tangled together. Her eyes were puffy and there were bags under it, but the most noticeable thing was…her gaze. Her gaze was unfocused, like her soul had left her body, it was so empty that made Tony shivered.

Seeing he look at May, Pepper explained with a low tone.

“May…she…tried to cut herself while you were still unconscious, but Happy had stopped her in time. So we have to…”

She trailed off, eyes full of sadness. She didn’t need to finish the sentence, because Tony understood. May was at her snapping point where she finally lost control of herself. After losing every single family member and finally got Penny back only to lose her all over again, no one, even an incredible strong woman like May, could bare that pain. And Tony understood, he really did. Because he was in the same situation as May’s. He lost his daughter, his first child, one more time. And how ironic was that? After wishing and praying for five years long, his wish was granted. Tony was given another chance and he failed, again. How many time in the dreams that he had wished to meet Penny one more time, to say he loved her, to say that he was sorry? How many time he had wished if he get another chance to make up everything for Penny, to cherish her and give her everything she deserved? He couldn’t count it anymore.

And the universe had given him another chance, but he fucking failed it again. It was his second chance and he lost it. There wasn’t any other chance, this was his last. This time, not even time travel could help him. But he failed Penny again.

The moment Tony stepped into his penthouse, his eyes immediately started searching for Morgan. When his gaze landed on the small figure sat on the expensive sofa with coloring book in front of her, he ran toward his little daughter. He hugged her as tight as he could without hurting her, the little girl obviously was very confused as she asked him.

“Daddy?”

Just like that, the dam broke. Tony started crying uncontrollable, his whole body shook as he let out chocking sound from sobbing. His stoic façade crumbled. Before, when he was still searching for Penny, he didn’t let himself break down, because there was still hope, there was still something to do, to fix. But now…what was left?

His small sweet little daughter didn’t say anything else and just let him hug her while he crying. She must have known that something bad had happened, bad enough to make her father cried like that. But even so, she didn’t say anything. Through the sound of his own sobs, Tony could hear Pepper’s muffled crying too, but he wasn’t in the state to calm down. Because back then, the pain and sorrow had drowned him.

That night, Tony couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to, and even if he did, every time he closed his eyes, Penny would appear. The sound of Pepper’s steady breathing was the only kept him away from having an anxiety attack. He silently questioned himself.

How could he let this happen in the first place? In the last five years, wasn’t his only wish was to have Penny back, to have another chance? Wasn’t he the one that had sworn to do better, to be better for Penny? Then how could he let this happen, after what they had gone through?

Tony always aware that people who close to him were in danger. Even before he became Iron Man, there was always someone who want to kill him or to make him suffer. He had seen what could happen with Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. Even when Tony swore to protect them at all cost, they were still in danger. That was exactly what had happened to Penny, she was dusted because Tony couldn’t save her, but he never thought she would…like this. He never thought that he would be the one that would _kill_ her, _not like this, never ever like this._

He swore to protect her and then he became the person that had pushed her to death.

_How ironic._

**She died, one more time, because of him.**

_So you are going to give up on her again, huh Stark?_

She’s dead, there is nothing I can do.

_You are going to give up on her like how you did 5 years ago. You are going to do it again, you are going to say that you can’t do anything to help her and give up without trying… You lost your hope again, like last time…where is the arrogant Tony Stark who believed he could fix everything?_

No, no. I did try. I did. But this,…I can’t. She is gone, for real this time. There is no turning back.

_So why you already assumed that she is dead?_

That made him froze. That’s right, Pepper didn’t say anything since he woke up, which meant they might haven’t found Penny’s corpse yet. If that was what happening, then…

Tony left his bedroom as quiet as he could and went straight to his lab. The moment he stepped inside the lab, Friday said with a worried tone.

“Boss, it’s really late now. You just woke up a few hours ago, I suggest you…”

“Friday, has anyone found Penny’s body yet?”

Tony cut her off and the AI paused a little before replying.

“No, sir. The NYPD hasn’t said anything.”

“Alright, pull up the sub marine drones design. We have work to do.”

No, Tony thought to himself, I won’t give up on Penny that easy.

The next few weeks were very tense, to say the least.

While Tony busied himself with searching for Penny, May was taken to a famous therapist. Happy joined her in those sessions and she seemed to had gotten better in some ways. She had stopped trying to harm herself but the sorrow aura never left her. Sometimes she would crack a smile at Happy’s jokes and she would smile for Morgan, even if it was forced. But it was a progress. She still hoped that Penny was somehow still alive, but as time passed, she slowly losing hope.

Tony often got some updates on May through Pepper and Happy when they occasionally visited his lab to drag him out to eat or something like that. He kept telling the woman to not losing hope whenever he could, since they hadn’t found Penny yet.

Tony himself didn’t believe that Penny was dead. There was a high chance that she had…that’s true, however, the girl that Tony knew would never do that, and beside, they hadn’t found her corpse yet.

The retired superhero had begun his search for his kid by designing another type of drone. Unlike the one that he had used to search for Penny from the air, this new type of drone was a kind of submarine drone. It could scan a vast area underwater to search for certain subject that he commanded. Tony made more than a hundred of them and secretly started searching as soon as he could in the middle of the night. He was able to receive hourly update without anyone living beside Hudson river notice anything.

Every hour, FRIDAY would read the reports for Tony and he along with his family would hold their breath and then relax a bit before falling into sadness again. They dreaded the news of finding Penny’s corpse so much, but at the same time, they worried if Penny had truly died but they still couldn’t find her and the poor girl was still lying somewhere under the water. All alone, in a cold, dark place where the sunshine couldn’t reach her.

It was a mixed feeling every time Tony thought about it, but he wouldn’t give up on his kid. Never.

He coded another program that must be very illegal, but he didn’t give a fuck about it, not when his poor daughter was still somewhere out there. The new program allowed FRIDAY to receive the newest information related to finding unidentified female corpse and the ability to scan through the satellites to find anyone had appearance resemblance Penny. It wasn’t a real challenge to Tony but he kept adding more and more protocols to the program to perfect it.

Time passed, and before Tony realized, it was already August 10th.

Tony woke up from his sleep in the lab, he must have passed out because of exhaustion. Even when he had somehow managed to spend enough time outside his working space to rest, bath, eat and spending time with his little Morgan, the stress really affected him in a bad way. His body was still weak, so it always craving rest while he was trying to find Penny.

He stood up from his seat to stretch himself when FRIDAY suddenly said.

“Boss, you have set a reminder. Today is August 10th, Penny’s birthday is today.”

FRIDAY’s tone was soft and somehow sad, as sad as an AI could manage. At that, Tony stopped short and he froze for a moment.

It was Penny’s birthday, and this year, while she had come back, Tony still didn’t have her with him to celebrate the girl’s birthday. She had run away from him, hiding somewhere without Tony’s knowledge.

“FRIDAY, I thought I have set another one? Shouldn’t that reminder be replayed a week before this?”

He asked. Tony had set another reminder a week before his kid’s birthday to prepare for it, why only now Tony remember about this?

“I have replay it, but you were too busy to notice.”

Ah, that’s understandable. He shook his head and decided to spend this special day outside his lab. On his way out, he ordered FRIDAY to tell him as soon as she has any other news about Penny.

Tony went to the kitchen first, he needed a cup of coffee. He passed Rhodey and Happy on his way, who were sitting in the living room together to play with Morgan. The little girl was too focus in sticking something on her doll’s house. He gave his two friends a small nod when they look at him with sad eyes. By the way Rhodey looked at him, Tony knew that his friends remembered what this day was.

When he reached the kitchen, he saw Pepper and May, they were preparing a cake. While Pepper putting the frosting on the cake, May stood beside her, looking at the cake, eyes dulled with sorrow. Hearing his footsteps, they both look up.

“The usual?”

Tony asked, tried to sound casually, they had already depressed enough in this day.

“Yeah, chocolate and vanilla cake. Penny’s favorite.”

Pepper replied. Every year in the last five years, on August 10th, Pepper and May made a special homemade chocolate and vanilla cake to celebrate Penny’s birthday. While Pepper was the one who actually made it, May assisted her by passing tools and ingredients.

Tony nodded and quickly drank his new cup of coffee. After finishing it, he went back to the living room. He waved his hand to attract Rhodey’s attention and started walking toward the storage. His friend understood and followed him, they didn’t say anything as they finding the box full of decorations that they had used to celebrate Penny’s birthday in the last five years and brought it out.

The box was heavy and they had never used all of the decorations at the same time, but maybe this year, it would be different.

Morgan glanced up when she heard the sound of the box being put on the floor of the living room. the little girl immediately realized what it was.

“Is Penny’s birthday today?”

She asked innocently and Tony crouched down in front of her, gave her a sad smile and nodded.

“Can I help you decorate?”

“Sure, honey.”

Tony answered after seeing Morgan eagerness. His little daughter’s face brightened immediately, she instantly ran toward the box and took everything out. Tony and his two friends exchanged meaningful glance with each other before decided to join the little girl.

They took all the stuff out, from ribbons, balloons, colorful flags to the round pink paper fans. For the first time, they used everything in the box. Morgan must have been the person who had the most fun, she enjoyed sticking every decoration on the walls while giggling and smiling all the time. The adults had the opposite emotions to the little girl, they hung the decorations with heavy feelings inside their chest.

But even when they were sad, the three men actually managed to finished their mission quite nicely. Everything seemed to be pretty and cute, totally fit with a sweet sixteen birthday of a sweet girl.

After that, everyone sat around a table in the middle of the decorated room, a nice homemade birthday cake in front of them. They had 6 people, but put 7 chairs around the table. One of them was left empty between Tony and May. They started singing Happy Birthday song after Pepper light up the candles on the cake. They clapped their hands and tried to sound cheerful while looking at the empty seat beside the table. Toward the end of the song, some of them was already on the verge of tears.

Every year in the last five years, they did this on Penny’s birthday. They would often gather at the Starks cabin, decorated the house, baked a birthday cake and sang the birthday song. They never wanted Penny to feel like she was forgotten wherever she was, so it became a tradition in their family. Some would say they shouldn’t do that in order to move on, but Tony and his family knew that they could never move on from Penny’s death.

The teenager girl was an essential part of their lives. Before Morgan, she was the one who brought laugh into their lives, Penny made everyone happy. She was the one that had bought May into their small family and healed the wound inside Tony’s heart. So when she was snapped, a part of their hearts completely shattered and went away with the girl.

No one, not even Morgan, could possibly replace Penny’s place in their heart.

But Penny didn’t know that.

Last year, they had celebrated the girl’s 21st birthday while wishing for a miracle to happen. This year, they had a chance to celebrate a real sixteenth birthday with her, but now they lost it.

Morgan was the one who blew the candles. And just like the last year, she told the others to wish since Penny wasn’t there to make a wish.

Tony only wished for one thing during the last five years: to have a chance to have Penny back again. But this year, his wish changed and he believed that the other adults had the same wish as him as well.

He just wished that Penny was still alive, and wherever she was, she was safe and sound.

The next morning, when the sun rise again and the day of August 10th has passed, Tony would resume his work. He would continue to focus on searching for his kid because he would never give up on Penny.

Tony was a dad, and a dad would do everything for his daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. Sorry for the absent and I know that I have promised to update 2 chapters but...things happened. I have never felt like I have jinx my luck like this.  
> Nothing went smoothly like I have hoped. Yesterday, my friend called my in a panic, asked if I have finished my homework and I were like: What??? What homework??   
> Turned out I have 4 deadlines due today and a test that I have done badly because of my crappy laptop :'(  
> My quarantine time is extended until the end of April, but to be honest, I'm still worry about going out of the house. I saw some videos on twitter today, I hope you guys didn't get out of the house to demonstrate to be let go to work again. Seriously, I mean, if you guys go out to a crowded place like that, at least wear a mask to keep yourself and the others safe.  
> Okay, sorry for rambling too much. I hope you guys are still safe and healthy, if not, I wish you guys will be better soon.
> 
> Pls, pls, leave a comment to let me know if you like this. I mean, this chapter is quite crappy since I didn't sleep yesterday. Kudos are also very appreciated.  
> Stay safe! I will come back for you soon <3
> 
> P/S: Just a random question, do any of you by some chance are male? I mean, I haven't met any guy who read fanfiction, but maybe it just me. Also, should I repost this on Wattpad or Tumblr?


	20. A start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *giggling like crazy while reading comments on my fic  
> Mom: Are you having a boyfriend?  
> Me:...  
> Mom:...
> 
> *Pls expect many error in this chapter, I don't have time to check over it one last time before posting this.

Penny believed that she rarely raised her eyebrows that high. In front of Matt’s house parked an expensive looking, red Mercedes car, and Felicia was leaning on it casually.

Seeing her expression, Felicia rolled her eyes and told her.

“I will let you know that this car isn’t like what you think.”

“Oh, so you do know what I think, huh?”

Penny replied, her voice dripped with sarcasm. The other girl rolled her eyes.

“Get in the car first, I will tell you later.”

Penny complied. She got her luggage into the car before climbing into the passenger seat. After she close the door, Felicia started to drive away, heading toward ESU.

“How much did you pay for this car?” Penny asked and the woman replied with a casual tone

“200,000dollars.”

“What?!”

“Before you started screaming at me, I need to clear this first. This car is not from stealing or doing anything illegal.”

“Uh huh, are you sure?”

“Hey! How could you have so little faith in me?!”

“…”

Felicia let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

“I worked to buy this car.”

“You? Worked?”

“Yes, me, worked. Five years ago, after the...snap. The government needed people who could help them with uh… reporting people who disappeared.”

Penny cringed, while keeping her eyes on the road, Felicia continued.

“It’s like an emergency agency. People who worked there receive reports from civilians every day about missing people. No one wanted to do that job. It was a very bad time. Most were still grieving over their loved one and no one go to work. If they need foods or anything, they could just walk into the stores, pick up what they need and walk out without paying. So, even when the government practically threw money at anyone who agreed to do the job, no one signed up.”

The teenager girl didn’t comment anything on that. It was…hard to imagine the situation. She had read some articles, many actually, about what happened during the five years after the snap. She did that to catch up and also tried to understand what the others had gone through. She had done research, has watched videos, read countless articles…but at that moment, when she was listening to Felicia, suddenly, Penny realized that she didn’t fully know what had happened with those who had survived the snap. Felicia continued.

“I…Matt, Wade and I had tried to find you after the snap. After the snap, everything was so chaotic. But you were nowhere to be found, so we had assumed the worst. Because there was no way that you wouldn’t try to help people in a situation like that. We heard some rumors about you followed the…spaceship, so we waited. Then Wade saw Stark visited your apartment, alone, and he came out with tears on his face and your aunt was crying. Wade immediately knew what happened. He told us about it. After that, I kinda needed some sort of distractions so I signed up for the program.”

“I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Hey, hey, none of that. It’s not your faults. You don’t need to apologize.” Felicia said with a soothing voice while taking her eyes off the road for a brief moment “If I have to hear another “I’m sorry” from your mouth, I might lose it.”

“…”

“The job wasn’t ideal. You have to listen to crying, panicking and angered people all day. But the government paid me very well, partly because of inflationary. Money lost its value, nothing more than some normal papers. I were paid about one million for a week. After the economy gone up again, I became one of the richest people in New York. How ironic, huh?”

Penny kept herself quiet. She knew that people who survived also suffered, she knew why, but she…maybe she didn’t have enough sympathy for them. She should have been glad that they had moved on and continued living, they had had a hard time too. And she knew how it feel when someone who you were very close with passed away, after all, she had lost three family members in her short life. The pain always seemed to be endless and it felt like she could never stand up again, could never feel happiness again. It was hard, very hard, and it was a long journey to recover and continue living, but she had made it. Her life had never been the same since their deaths, but she had continued living, for herself, and for them too. Her uncle had told her once, in one of her distant memory when they visited her parent’s tombs.

“Living and enjoying your life is a way to honor the dead.”

It wasn’t their faults. They had done what they had to do, to move on, to continue living. And Penny knew, deep down, if she was dead, she would have wanted them to do the same. It was her faults, if she didn’t come back, nothing would change for them, they could continue living their lives like how they did in the last five years. If she didn’t come back, they wouldn’t need to try to readjust. If she didn’t came back…

Suddenly, a warm hand put on her shoulder cut off her thoughts.

“Penny,” Felicia said, her voice soft “I’m so glad that you came back. Matt and Wade are too. We are so happy to have you back.”

That stunt Penny, really made her speechless. She could feel the wetness in her eyes and turned away, looking out at the window, not saying anything.

They didn’t say anything else for the next fifteen minutes. Soon enough, Felicia parked the car near the gate of ESU. She turned to Penny after she turned off the car.

“Remember to come back to visit us frequently. And like what Matt said, you are always welcomed there. Or you can just go to my house, I will text you the address.”

Penny laughed, the tension earlier in the car disappeared.

“Sure, I will visit you guys.”

Felicia smiled.

“Look at you! 15 years old and are going to university. I’m so proud.”

Penny chuckled, she started to get out of the car to take her luggage.

“It’s actually 16 years old, but thanks, I guess.”

That made the other girl blinked in surprise.

“What? Since when?? I remember quite well that you haven’t had your 16 birthday yet.”

“Uh…like last month? August 10th.”

“And you didn’t think about telling me? Or anyone else?”

Felicia said in disbelief and Penny shrugged.

“It’s nothing important. It’s just a day.”

“Uh,…what? Just a day?? What the hell are you talking about? It’s your birthday! Your sweet sixteen! You know about that right? I heard that it quite common nowadays.”

Penny rolled her eyes and waved her off, started walking toward the gate with the luggage in her hands. She heard Felicia shouted after her.

“Do you need help with that luggage?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

That was true. With her super strength, she wouldn’t get tired over something like this. All she brought with her was put into a trolley and a duffle bag. Her light pink trolley bag was big but since she could just drag it all the way, it wasn’t a problem.

Stepping into the huge campus, Penny sucked in a deep breath in awe. It wasn’t her first time here, she had come here before to join the science fair, but the last time, she was too nervous. This time it’s different, she was going to study here, at ESU! ESU was one of the top colleges in America, it was famous for its science related courses. Countless famous scientists had studied here before and it was Penny’s dream to study here. Before the snap, since she was young, she didn’t think much about college, she hadn’t decided back then. She just thought that if she choose to study Electrical Engineering, she would go to MIT, just like Mr. Stark and if she choose Chemistry, she would go to ESU. Now, she didn’t really have any choice, but no one could say that she wasn’t pleased to study here.

Penny walked into the dorm, which was a large, white building. There were so many people even when it was three days before the new semester. She joined the queue in front of the receptionist’s desk. After 15 minutes, it was her turn, she gave the receptionist her student card. The middle age woman stared at it before typing something into her computer. After that she gave Penny back her card along with a key.

“Have a good semester. Your room is 307, it’s on the third floor.”

Penny thanked the woman and entered an elevator. The elevator was quite large, but since everyone had luggage to carry with them, she only had to share the space with three other people.

“Which floor?”

A young man stood near the door asked her.

“The third please.”

He nodded and turned away to push the button. Penny could see that the other two girls standing next to her were secretly looking at her and the way the young man’s eyes lingered a little too long than it should be. She was worried. May and many other often commented that Penny looked younger than her age, and now, when she was faking her age to make herself an adult legally, she must have looked ridiculously young. That’s why she had put some make up on, nothing much, just some mascara and lipstick but it made her look older somehow, or at least, that’s what she hoped.

With a small “ding”, the elevator opened and Penny walked out of the elevator with another girl. Penny quickly found room 307. She unlocked the door with her key and stepped into the room, stopped short in her track when she saw another girl.

The strange girl looked up from where she was sitting to cut the tape on a carton box, when she saw Penny she smiled brightly and immediately stood up. She stuck out a hand toward Penny and they shook hands.

“Hi! My name is Helena Bowman, nice to meet you. Are you my roommate?”

“Hi…uh, Ms. Bowman. My name is Penelope Parker, and yeah, I guess?”

Penny stuttered, internally slapped herself for making things awkward. But thankfully, Helena didn’t seem to mind.

“My goodness, please don’t call me Ms. Bowman, that’s weird.” The girl laughed and playfully said “You can call me Helena or Helen, Ms. Bowman made me feel so old. I mean, we are probably at the same age, right?”

Penny tried not to make herself look tense as she lied.

“Yeah, if you are 18 as well.”

“Cool. We are the same age, which means this will be our first semester right? What’s your major? Mine is Biology.”

“Oh, my major is Chemistry.”

“Yeah? Then we might have some same classes together. I hope we will become good friend.”

Looking at her new roommate who was smiling brightly, the anxiousness inside Penny disappeared. She didn’t want to admit it but she was very worry since she was going to start a completely new phase in her life. She didn’t really have anyone to lean on when she need and there was no one who would guide her. She had Matt, Felicia and Wade, but she didn’t want to bother them too much, beside, she didn’t think they would be of much help either.

Therefore, someone who was willing to be her new friend on her first day here gave her some kind of reassurance. Penny returned Helena with a small smile of her own and said.

“I hope so too, Helen.”

Helen’s smile seemed to widen if that even possible, she asked Penny excitedly.

“Great! Your name is Penelope right? Can I call you Penny for short?”

Penny nodded her head. It’s great that there was someone else other than Matt, Felicia and Wade that called her by her real name. When she was working, most called her as “Penelope” or “Ms. Parker”, they were being polite and that also was her current name, but somehow Penny didn’t think that the name really stick to her. It’s just…strange, unfamiliar.

Penny started unpacking her luggage. The room wasn’t large, but it had two bunk beds, and under each of them were two desks. Next to the beds were two wardrobes and on the left of the room was a door lead to their private bathroom. The room wasn’t large or super luxurious, but it was fully equipped to make the lives of two students as comfortable as possible.

Helen stared at her in disbelief when she unpacked her luggage.

“That’s all what you bring with you?”

She asked and Penny could only nod in respond. She understood why Helen was shocked. The amount of her luggage was much smaller than most students who stayed in the dorm. But it was all she had, even after being taken to buy more clothes by Felicia, she still didn’t have much stuff. A normal girl would have much more stuff to bring with her, excluding clothes, there was make up and all those jazz. Penny didn’t have make up, well, she did, but only lipstick and mascara, that’s all.

Penny soon discovered that Helen was a very interesting person to talk to. She was humorous, always smile and laugh, out-going and smart. She had a part time job as a makeup artist for some fashion magazines and was quite popular on Instagram and Twitter with thousands followers.

Helen was surprised to know that Penny’s account on social media was quite bland. Penny could only gave her new friend a small tight smile, before the snap, she had never been active on social media and after she ran away, she had to give up on her old account. She made new one and sometimes post pictures that she took on the account since Karen advised her to, her AI believe that wouldn’t make anyone suspicious about her back ground. There was no teenager girl who has a smartphone could live without an account on social media.Helen quickly followed her and soon enough, Penny gained some followers since Helen followed her.

Penny started her first semester in college two days later. Since she had a scholarship, she was able to borrowed textbooks from ESU’s main library and only need to give them back when the semester end. The professors of ESU were knowledgeable, they welcomed discussions in different topics in their classes and always listened to their student’s ideas and questions. ESU was full of super smart nerds as Penny had expected, they were intelligent and Penny loved discussing different study topics with them.

It was great, but if Penny was being honest, they still hadn’t teach anything new to her. It was just the first two weeks but from what she had read from the textbooks, it would be a long time until they reach the new topic. Being a genius with a genius level intelligence was very hard if someone ask Penny.

The girl decided to spend most of her time in the class reading all the textbooks and started doing some research. One of the conditions that ESU had given her in exchange for the full ride scholarship was publishing her own studies on some certain science journals. She was a little worried about that so she decided to start when she still had so much free time.

Overall, life was great for Penny.

Penny was surprised by a phone call on the morning of the second Friday after she started college. Felicia asked her to come back on the following Saturday for “emergency”. She didn’t say what that was, only told Penny to come back. Penny agreed and promised she would be at Matt’s house at 9am the following day.

True to her word, on Saturday morning, after saying a brief goodbye to a sleepy Helen, Penny walked back Matt’s house. Felicia had offered to give Penny a lift but the girl refused, not wanting to bother the woman. She didn’t mind walking back, it wasn’t that far and she enjoyed her stroll anyway.

The weather in the early morning was cool, Penny could feel the autumn of New York through the gentle breeze. If she didn’t promise to be there at 9 and was a little worry, Penny would have walked slower to enjoy the weather. The girl afraid that there was some kind of emergency so she was called to come back, but at the same time, based on Felicia’s tone through the phone and how she was asked to come back on Saturday, Penny wasn’t too worry.

She happily took off her earphones and jogged toward Felicia when she saw the woman was waiting for her in front of Matt’s house. Hearing Penny’s footstep, the Black Cat looked up from her phone and her expression immediately brightened. She ran toward the girl and gave her a big hug as she greeted Penny.

“Hey there, little spider. It’s so nice to see you again, I have missed you.”

As they parted away, Penny playfully rolled her eyes “It has only been like…2 weeks, Felicia.”

“But you didn’t call.” The woman pouted before smiling again, she was going to say something when the front door of the house opened and Matt appeared. He leaned casually on the door frame as he asked Penny.

“Hey kid. How was college?”

“Cool, I guess” Penny shrugged her shoulder “It’s still pretty easy though. I have hoped to learn new things.”

“Well, it has only been 2 weeks. I’m sure a prestigious college like ESU will have something to offer a young genius like you.”

Matt said while Felicia, with a frowning face, walked toward him. The woman took something (pink sticker??) that stuck onto the man’s sleeve off casually and Penny had to raise her eyebrows when she noticed that Matt didn’t even bat an eye at the woman’s action. But maybe it was just Penny being too sensitive.

“So, why did you call me back? Did something happen…?”

Penny asked, decided to focus in why she was called back. Felicia quickly shook her head and replied.

“No, no, no. Nothing is wrong. We are handling it.”

“She is right.”

Matt nodded and chimed in. Penny raised an eyebrow at them, she was so confused. But before she could ask anything else, Felicia had already walked toward her and dragged her to her red car.

“You don’t need to worry about anything. Let’s go shopping with me. What do you like to buy? I think you still need more clothes.”

“But…”

“No but. Let’s go. We need to spend some quality girls time together. I’m thinking about DONNI…”

With that, Penny was dragged to go shopping with Felicia. They spent the whole morning went from one to another clothes store. Felicia tried her best to convince Penny to buy more clothes while letting her be the one who paid for it. While Penny struggling to receive all the gifts, the woman seemed to be enjoy choosing and buying clothes for Penny so much that she couldn’t stop smiling.

They stopped at Delmar’s to pick up some sandwiches for lunch. Penny didn’t go in, just in case that the man would tell her aunt, so Felicia bought the foods and refused to take Penny’s money, again. In the afternoon, they went to different stores and the mall for window shopping. Penny enjoyed eating ice cream with Felicia while they were strolling on the street, looking at the stores. The woman listened to her rambling attentively, nodding and occasionally made some comments. Felicia seemed to enjoy their time together as well, judging from her smiling face.

They went back to Matt’s house at about 5 in the afternoon. Penny was so confused when she noticed Felicia vibrating with excitement in her seat the whole way back. But she soon knew the reason behind the woman’s excitement.

The moment she stepped into Matt’s house, she was welcomed with colorful pieces of paper being thrown at her while Wade blowing a bright red plastic trumpet and Matt and Felicia screaming “HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN BIRTHDAY!”

All Penny could do at that moment was gaping, she was completely speechless. After taking a moment to calm down from the surprise, she stuttered.

“But my birthday is…”

“We know.” Matt cut her off, he was smiling “This is like a late birthday party, but late is better than not doing anything right?”

Tears welled up in Penny’s eyes while her heart felt like it could burst because of happiness. Her three friends lead her to the living room eagerly. Penny’s heart warmed when she saw the decorations. It was a bit messy, no doubt that it was a huge effort came from Matt and Wade. Felicia must have helped them too, judging from the girly color theme: light pink, gold and silver with sparkles. On the center of the table was a birthday cake with a birthday candle number sixteen on it, surrounded the cake was soft drinks and foods from McDonald’s and Burger King.

“Well, the foods are all fast food, but I remember that you said you like them, right?”

Matt scratched his neck, said awkwardly. But Penny didn’t feel any disappointment about the foods, she was too happy. She couldn’t say anything so thanks God for Wade who playfully pushed Penny toward the couch while saying eagerly “Let’s start the party. I don’t think any of us would like to eat the foods when it cold.”

With that, Penny’s late 16 birthday celebration started. They started eating the foods first while chatting happily with each other. After finishing their dinner, they came to the main part. Matt lightened the candle on the birthday cake while Wade and Felicia started singing. Felicia’s voice wasn’t too bad, but Wade’s was horrible. Still, Penny felt so happy as the others sitting around her clapped their hands when she blow the candle.

Felicia cut the cake and gave each of them a big piece of the cake. Without her super metabolism, Penny wouldn’t be able to eat all that. Matt was the first to finish, claiming that he needed to get something before walking out of the living room, Wade followed suit.

They came back after a few minutes, hands holding…oh. They went to take their gifts that they had prepared for Penny. Before the girl could protest or refuse, Felicia had already took out a box wrapped in pink paper from her bag and put it in front of Penny, saying.

“No, you cannot refuse anything today. We have spent quite a lot of time to choose and prepare the gifts. You cannot refuse them.”

With that, Penny clamped her mouth shut. She silently accepted the gifts and started to open them in front of her friends, who were all smiling so brightly.

The first gift came from Felicia. It was a makeup set. Penny swallowed when she realized that it must have cost hundreds. The second came from Wade, a beautiful handmade wooden statue of a flying bird.

“Wow, this is so beautiful. Where did you…?”

Penny asked in awe but Wade just grinned and shrugged.

“I made it myself”

“Really? It’s so beautiful, thank you.”

“Well, for my baby girl, this is nothing.”

Wade grinned. The last present came from Matt, it was light. Penny wondered what was in the box while she tearing the wrapping paper off. It was a key. A car key.

Penny looked up with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. She stared at Matt in shock.

“You are crazy. How can I receive this?!”

Matt shrugged, seemed to be unfazed.

“Well, you are in college now. Sooner or later, you will need a car anyway.”

“But…but…It’s an expensive gift! And I can’t drive!”

“Then let me teach you.” Felicia chimed in “It’s not like Matt doesn’t have money. He chose a car as a gift, just receive it. He never need it anyway.”

It took a lot more coax from her three friends to make Penny finally accept Matt’s gift. After that, Penny went with Matt outside to see her new car and she almost fainted at the sight of it. It was a red and black sport car, no doubt super expensive. She almost started whining to refuse again when Felicia called them inside for movie.

“What about Saw?”

“No, Penny can’t watch that!”

“How about…”

Felicia and Wade kept bickering back and forth about what movie they should watch. Penny thought it was quite hilarious but it seemed like Matt had a different opinion. He sighed in frustration and said.

“Why don’t we just ask Penny?”

All eyes turned to the teenager girl and she blinked.

“Uhh…Star War?”

The three agreed immediately and they started their movie night. Half way through the movie, Penny started to doze off. She leaned her head on Felicia’s shoulder who gently carded her fingers through Penny’s hair. She felt asleep to the sound of the movie, Matt and Wade bickering while playfully threw popcorn at each other.

It was nice, Penny was so happy.

In that moment, when she was surrounded by people who she knew that they loved her and fully welcomed her back into their lives, Penny felt like her once shattered world started to piece back again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I come back "soon" as I have promised. Do you enjoy this chapter?  
> Many of you want to come back to Penny and get some sweet stuff, so I decided to speed things up a bit, you might see that this chapter is not as good as the previous one. I mean, much less emotional stuffs.  
> Still, I hope you enjoy it.  
> I will start working on the next chapter soon. I'm gonna try to speed things up so we can get some fluff.  
> Thank you for your comment on the previous chapter! I read all of them but don't have time to reply. Thank you so much.
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also very appreciated!  
> Stay safe!


	21. Small chit-chat with new friend.

Helen thought her new roommate was a strange girl.

Although being a little shy, she was a nice person to talk to. Penny also seemed to be a kind one since she had applied to volunteer to a group that provided medical care for homeless people, even though she said she didn’t think about becoming a doctor or a nurse. But there was something…off about her.

From what she had seen, she could get some personal information out of Penny without asking. She was smart, very smart, she seemed to have learned more than most people who had the same age as them, at least in the subjects that Helen shared classes with Penny. The first two days, the other girl paid attention to every word their professors said in classes. But after that, since she sat right next to Penny, she could see that the girl didn’t care about the lectures anymore, she sometimes glanced up a bit, but other than that, Penny only focused on whatever she was working on her Stark laptop. At first, Helen heard Penny muttered under her breath like “equations” and “coding”, so she figured that her roommate was doing something ‘techy’. But when she asked Penny about it, the girl blushed and explained that she was doing some kind of research to write an article on Biology, which she was using special code to calculate the result of the experiments that she would take as examples. Helen was proud that she understood Biology much better than most of her peers, but after a quick glance at Penny’s work, she decided that she wouldn’t be able to understand it, at least not until the other girl finish it. But the most obvious sign of Penny’s intelligence was no matter how much she was focusing on the other stuffs in classes instead of paying attention to the professor’s lecture, she still managed to answer the questions correctly every-single- time.

She was beautiful in a natural way. Since they were roommate, Helen knew that she didn’t use too much make up, most of the time the only thing she used was lipstick. Sometimes, although it was quite rare, she would also put mascara on. But other than that, she didn’t use anything else, which was different than most of the girl in the US, who preferred heavy makeup. Still, her natural beauty easily shined through, attracted most students in ESU, both male and female. Penny didn’t seemed to know that she was a pretty girl though, while they mostly went with each other around the campus and Helen was also a beautiful one, it was pretty easy to see that many were attracted by Penny’s beautiful appearance. When Helen told Penny that she was pretty, the other girl seemed to be shocked and blushed heavily, telling Helen that no one had ever said that to her. That really made Helen surprise, but she didn’t say it out loud.

One of the weirdest things about her was related to Penny’s social media account. She also used Twitter and Instagram, however, both of her accounts were quite bland. There was no selfie photo that was posted despite the fact that the girl had a beautiful appearance. There was actually nothing much on both of those accounts, just some retweets about Star War or memes, some photos of the foods that were taken in a Japanese restaurant back when Penny was still working there (according to the caption) and pictures of New York streets. At first, Helen only thought that the other girl was an introvert so she didn’t like posting anything about herself on social media, which really make sense, but after a while, she noticed that Penny’s Twitter account hadn’t been existing for long, only a few months. That really made Helen surprise, why an 18-year-old girl like Penny only started using Twitter for a few months? It just didn’t make sense. Even if she was snapped, they could still have their old account. How could a teenage girl survived high school without social media?!

And the last, it was about Penny’s family. From their daily chit chat, Helen knew that the other girl was born and grown up in Queens, New York, and it didn’t seem like they had ever moved away somewhere else. If she was in Queens, why did she choose to live in the dorm? To live independently? Maybe. But then why she never saw Penny called her family? That wasn’t really normal. Helen only ever saw her called someone named “Felicia”, but based on the way she talked, it seemed like that was a friend more than a family member. She also almost never leave the dorm during weekend to visit anyone, minus one time when she went to “Felicia’s” and came back with huge shopping bags.

Helen wasn’t a nosy person, it was just because she quite curious about her roommate. Also, she wasn’t one with the best family, which made she worry about her new friend. So one day, after Penny received an email informed her that she was accepted to the volunteer group and she was cheering, Helen said.

“That’s such a great news Penny! I heard that many was refused since they don’t meet the requirement, if you was accepted, they must have thought that you have enough medical knowledge equal a paramedic! You should tell your friend or your family about it, they will be very proud.”

The girl nodded her head and immediately dialed a number, she happily told “Felicia” about her new achievement, but that was the only phone call. Penny didn’t call anyone else even when she was vibrating with excitement.

A few days after that, while Penny was typing something on her computer and Helen was ironing the clothes, she casually asked.

“Penny, is your family living in New York?”

Penny’s whole body immediately tense up. _Whoops, that’s must be a touchy subject._ After a minute, the girl finally answered.

“Well, yeah. They still live here.”

Helen dropped the topic that night, couldn’t help but noticing the way Penny avoid looking at her in the eyes for the next few days. She felt like a jerk for trying to know what happened in her roommate’s life, who she wanted to be friend with. Helen gave up on trying to solve the mysteries surround Penny and acted like normal.

That was until Penny’s presentation. The girl had joined ESU’s robotic club and successfully made “an amazing cleaning robot with an advanced AI” (according to the club president) all by herself, she was asked to make a presentation focused on the AI. Not many were able to make an advanced one like that at her age and with that amount of time, the presentation was a success despite Penny’s constant worry. Everyone who listened to her talking were really interested in the topic and found it fascinating, many of them actually took note! Helen joined them to cheer Penny up, since the girl didn’t look like she had many friends. She wasn’t much of a techy person, but she found the presentation surprisingly easy to follow and it also quite interesting. When Penny finished, everyone was clapping. Helen wanted to congratulate her so she tried to go through the crowd that was leaving, when she reached where Penny was standing, she saw a white hair woman talking to her. Based on their talk, it seemed like the strange woman was ‘Felicia’, and just like Helen had guessed, they weren’t family, not by blood at least, anyone could tell that from their appearance.

It seemed like Felicia had driven here to see and congratulate Penny on her presentation. But the weirdest thing was that no one else was there for Penny as a family member. It’s on the weekend, so the presentation hall was opened to the public, and if Felicia was there, why couldn’t her family come too?

Helen carefully moved away from the two to give them privacy and waited until they had finished talking and Felicia had already left to approach Penny. She gave the other girl a huge smile and said.

“Good work with the presentation! I never thought I would be able to understand it at first, you did great!”

Penny gave her a shy smile as a respond. Even when she had a question that kept bugging her, Helen still didn’t want to ruin her roommate’s good mood, so instead of asking straight away, she started talking about lunch and the two of them went to the cafeteria to get some food.

It wasn’t until the evening that Helen asked Penny.

“Hey, Penny” the girl glanced up from her phone to look at Helen “So, I see you talking to someone this morning. You know, the white hair woman…”

“Oh, that’s a friend of mine. She came after I told her that I were going to have a presentation.”

“Oh…I see.” Helen paused a little, she straightened herself and looked at Penny in the eyes when she asked seriously “What’s wrong with your family, Penny?”

The girl immediately tensed up, she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Penny was having a good time. For weeks, there was no special incident, everything was going smoothly like she had wished to.

She managed to get in a volunteer group that offered medical care for the poor. She had wanted to get into it due to the fact that she had given up on Spider Girl, but the guilt didn’t let her alone and she kept wanting to help people. It was a suggestion from Karen, the AI believed that the job was totally fitting since she had enough knowledge about medical to do it. Training to have enough medical knowledge equal a paramedic was something Penny received from Mr. Stark. In their line of work, those skills were needed in case of emergency. With a little help from Karen, she managed to fake some records to apply to the volunteer group. While she really did have those skills and knowledge, she couldn’t say that she was Spider Girl so she learned it in the Avengers Compound!

She joined the ESU’s robotic club after a talk with Matt, who encouraged her to invest more into her college activities. She made new friends in the club and managed to finish her first project in time, which turned out to be very impressive in the others’ eyes. She received an invitation to make a small presentation about her invention and she had done better than she had thought at first.

She wasn’t having any issue with her homework and she had finished reading all of her textbooks, which would make her life in college so much easier than many others. Her study in Biology only needed a few more touches before it was ready to be published. Some senior students were asking if she could join their study group, which gave her a huge chance to learn more. She had a new part time job at a famous coffee store with a good payment and a position as a librarian in one of ESU’s libraries, which offered her more access than most of the students to the college’s books collection.

She had some new friends from college. And her old friend, Matt, Felicia and Wade cared about her. They would occasionally called (in Felicia’s case) or texted her to ask about how she was doing. It was nice.

Overall, life was good. And for once, Parker’s luck didn’t strike Penny anymore.

That was until now.

Penny was well aware that she standing frozen in her place while she staring at Helen, mouth gaping. Her roommate seemed like she had been reluctant when she asked her that question, however, the look of worry mixed with determent on her face told Penny that she wouldn’t drop it easily if she couldn’t receive a good answer. After a full minute, Penny finally spluttered.

“Wha…What do you mean? I…I’m not sure that I understand the question.”

Helen bit her lower lip, looking anxious, she said with a bit hesitation.

“I’m sorry if I’m intruding you, but I just…worry, I guess? I mean, you never really mention about your family, only said that they are also living in New York. But I have never seen you visit them in the weekend nor call them either, and they didn’t come here or call you for the presentation, right? I mean, the last time when I asked you about your family, you looked…tense. I mean…we are not that close and you don’t have to tell me about them but…is everything between you and your family okay? I’m sorry for being nosy, it just… I think I need to make sure. Sorry.”

Penny knew that she should just deny or give Helen some excuses about it, but after seeing the sincerity in Helen eyes, words stuck in her throat. She couldn’t lie to Helen at that moment but talking about her true situation also seemed impossible. So, she stayed silent and turned away to avoid Helen’s eyes while struggling to figure out a way to answer.

Seeing Penny’s reaction, Helen faltered. When she decided that she was going to ask, she already knew that this was overstep. But from her own experience, Helen couldn’t help but felt very worry for Penny. She seemed like a good girl and didn’t deserve having bad thing happen to her. Especially something related to her family.

“Hey,” Helen put a hand on Penny’s shoulder and the girl turned around to look at her, she said calmly “look, I’m just worry about you. You don’t need to talk about your family if you don’t want to. I’m sorry to overstep.”

Helen paused to let her words sink in before continue “Just…is everything alright with you now? You don’t have any problem right?”

Penny blinked in surprise. She obviously didn’t think Helen would talk about that. Nevertheless, she nodded her head and answered.

“I’m fine. I don’t think I’m having any problem right now.”

Seemed to be satisfied with the answer, Helen smiled and nodded.

“That’s good to hear.”

It seemed like she had decided to stop talking about their topic after that when she turned away and started ranting about a random story that she had heard from one of her friend that day. But Penny still couldn’t stop thinking about that. Helen must have been very sensitive or it was just because she was being too obvious. But this time, she didn’t think that she was _that_ bad, well yeah, she was bad at keeping secrets, but…

She was too busy with her thoughts that she didn’t notice she was still staring at Helen while the other girl had stopped talking. Only when Helen clapped a hand on her shoulder that Penny finally came back to the real world.

“You okay? You just zoned out.”

Helen asked her but she could only open then close her mouth. She must have looked like a true idiot. Helen’s gaze softened, she told Penny.

“I’m sorry for overstep. That was very rude of me.”

“Ah, no, no” Penny shook her head “I don’t mind, really. I’m just surprised, I guess?”

She awkwardly scratched her neck, blushed a little. Reluctantly, she asked Helen.

“Why?...I mean why did you ask about that? I mean I know that you are worry, but why…I mean why did you worry? I mean…ugh!”

She kept stuttering and Penny could feel her face was heating up. But her roommate seemed to understand what she wanted to say. She smiled, but there was something like sadness in her eyes. She sat down on their small, fluffy, white carpet on the floor and patted her hand on the place next to her, signaled for Penny to sit down beside her. Penny complied and waited for Helen to start talking.

After a moment, Helen said.

“I ran away from home.” Penny’s eyes widen at that “My parents were…abusive, in some ways.” Helen stopped a little to clear her throat “So I just worried that something similar has happened to you.”

She turned to look at Penny in the eyes, asked calmly, worries etched on her face.

“Were you abused?”

Penny shook her head “No, I think…they treated me very well.”

“Sometimes giving a place to stay, feeding and giving good education don’t represent good parenting.” Helen stated, her eyes darkened a bit at that “Are you sure you weren’t mistreated?”

With wide eyes, Penny stared at the other girl, not really know what to say or if she was understanding what Helen said correctly. Helen continued, she had a faraway look in her eyes.

“You know that most students in ESU are from rich families right?” Penny nodded in response, of course she knew, it was an Ivy League university anyway. If she didn’t have the scholarship, there was no way she could afford the tuition fee. Helen continued “I was also born in a rich family. My parents and my older brother and sister…they aren’t the nicest. And I know that this sounds cliché and sounds like it’s from a novel, but the truth is…my family wants to use me to sign new business deals by making me get marry with a rich business man.”

Penny spluttered, too shocked at that.

“Wha…What!?”

Helen laughed at her reaction and smiled bitterly, a gloomy atmosphere suddenly surrounded her.

“Hard to believe isn’t it? My life is like from a fucking novel. You know, when I was small, I always seek for their approval. I was taught to play piano, violin, flute and had to learn how to paint to join big competitions, all for making me look like an elegant woman in the future so men would be more interested in marrying me. At first, I didn’t know that and I tried my best, that was until my mother and sister screamed at me while telling me that I didn’t have any value to them outside of getting marry so they could get some new contracts.”

Penny was speechless. What kind of people did that with their own family?! And could they actually be called as family after they said that to Helen.

“When I was born, my family was having huge debts.” Helen started talking again “Huge enough that made them unable to pay or kept their company running. My older sister, who was only 19 and still in college at that time, had made a sacrifice. She got married with a man who she didn’t love and was 20 years older than her so my parents could sign a new contract with him. In other words, she had saved our family from going bankrupt. I am, at least in some ways, grateful for her help. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to grow up in luxury… I’m not needed in my family, partly because I and my mother aren’t biologically related.” Penny’s eyes widen at that “I’m just a result of an one night stand between my father and a waitress. I’m not wanted.”

“Helen…”

“When I was younger, I was taught to think that I should be grateful that they have taken me in when my biological mother abandoned me. I was always behave like a good girl, never talked too loud, never opened my mouth when I wasn’t asked, never asked for anything. I kept my room clean, my grade was all A’s, I read books, I practiced playing musical instruments, painting to join large competition. I tried my best to please them, to get a praise, to get recognition from them…to make them look at me, to make them _love_ me. But they never did.”

Tears welled up in Penny’s eyes and she gave Helen a hug as she said, voice wobbled.

“Helen,…I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

“Hey,…it’s okay. I’m okay now.”

Helen said, hugging her back, her hand patted Penny’s back gently.

“I met a friend in middle school, a true friend” the girl murmured “He pointed out to me that what they did was wrong, and I’m always more than what they said. He is helping me pay the tuition fee and also studying here. Maybe I will introduce him to you, we can all be friends.”

They pulled away and Penny used her knuckle to wipe her teary eyes. After staying in silence for a moment, Penny decided that she wanted to talk about her situation to Helen. She took a deep breath and started.

“My family is…”

“Penny,” Helen suddenly cut her off “You know that I didn’t talk about my family to make you share your situation right?”

Penny blinked a few times in surprise before nodding.

“I know. I want to talk about it to you.”

“Okay,” Helen nodded “if you are sure.”

“My family…they treated me very well. My situation is…unique, in some ways. I’m not biologically related to them, but they still love me. I love them too.” Penny talked slowly “They are amazing people. I’m very grateful to have them as my family. I won’t ever trade them for the world. They always cared about me, and spent a large amount of time for me too. They did so much for me…but I ran away.”

Helen gently rubbed her arm, encouraged her to keep talking.

“I was…blipped.” Helen nodded in understanding “I came back and…things changed a lot. My family…they changed a lot. I mean, that is to be expected, I didn’t think that they wouldn’t change either. It’s just…hard to adjust, I guess. We…have a new family member during the last five years. A little girl, she looked really cute. I guess I could call her as my cousin, no, maybe…” Penny tried to swallow the lump in her throat “…maybe little sister, it’s hard to explain but…my family is quite unique, like I said before. I guess I just can’t feel familiar with…everything. I don’t know either. It’s so…so different.”

Tears started to well in Penny’s eyes and she was forced to stop talking to take a breath. Helen squeezed her shoulder lightly, it was gentle yet firm. The small gesture grounded Penny. She started again.

“My family and I…suddenly we didn’t spend much time with each other anymore. I mean, at least it was ‘suddenly’ to me, to them, it has been five years. We didn’t talk much to each other anymore…, they stopped asking and I stopped talking. We no longer spent time doing…stuffs with each other. We still eating dinners and breakfast with each other, and still talk, of course. But to me, it was so forcing. They…I guess they tried to include me into their conversations, but sometimes…I didn’t even know what they were talking about! I was gone for five years, and when I came back, I could hardly understand their inside jokes. The more I listened to them, the more I realized how much I have missed. I didn’t know anything about the little girl, who everyone adores. I don’t know anything except from the things that they told me and they sometimes didn’t even let me know what happen in the last five years when I asked them… It made me feel like I was in a different world from them. Sometimes, I felt like I was being…”

“Forgotten.”

Helen and Penny said at the same time. Penny could feel the sympathy from Helen’s gaze without looking at her. She burst into tears.

“I mean I guess a part of me was being so stupid and full of jealous. I knew the reason why they care and spend more time with her and they still care for me. They still cared about me. They still took me in after five years even when I’m not biologically related to them. They still gave me so many things, the Starkphone and my laptop are from them. You know how expensive it could be right? They still took care of me. Before I ran away, I was driven to school. I must be a real jerk to run away from them right?”

Penny leaned on Helen’s shoulder and started sobbing. She couldn’t stop it, but Helen didn’t seem to mind either. The other girl just offer comfort by rubbing her hand on Penny’s back.

“It was so stupid.” Penny’s voice was a little muffle since she was still crying into her friend’s shoulder “I’m so greedy, so stupid. They already taken care of me so nicely, but I still want more from them, I still want them to be like five years ago! I even feel jealous with a kid because she was receiving the attention that she totally deserves! I have been absent for five entire years, of course they wouldn’t act like before. They have another kid, that’s why they couldn’t pay too much attention to me. They have always treated me so kindly, why do I like this? I never want this.”

Helen gently shushed her, she carded her hand through Penny’s silky hair.

“You are not stupid. Nor bad, nor greedy like you said. What you did, what you feel, it was all because you are a human. And no matter what, it’s in human’s nature that sometimes, we have some negative feeling toward even our loved one. Why do we need to suppress it? It will do more harm than good to our relationships. You ran, you left them because you didn’t feel like you were loved anymore. You didn’t think that you were needed anymore. You left, because you felt like you were replaced by that kid right?”

Helen asked an Penny glanced up and looked at her with teary eyes.

“How…how did you know?”

“I’m sharper than you think” Helen said with a small smile, she reached out one hand to wipe Penny’s tears stained cheeks “and the way you talk is quite obvious to me.” She paused a bit “I think it was more like the pain from feeling like you were betrayed by your family more than jealous.”

_Was it?_

Penny wasn’t sure, but what Helen just said really made sense. Maybe she was right.

“Have you talked to them about this before you left?”

Penny shook her head, kept her gaze down to avoid Helen’s gaze.

“I didn’t think I was ready to face them.”

“What about now?”

“I’m…I’m not sure. No, I don’t think so.” A pause, then “I don’t think they will forgive me. It’s not their faults, it’s all mine.”

“And that’s where you are wrong again.” Helen stated, shaking her head “It’s not your faults. It’s not your faults because you are a human with feelings and emotions. Maybe you think it’s not their faults and it’s all yours, but that’s so wrong. In this relationship, they are adults and you are the child. Even if you are 18, that cannot be changed overnight just because you are legally an adult. They are the adults in this relationship, they are your family, so they are responsible for making you feel loved, but they failed to do it. Maybe they didn’t mean to, but they did anyway. And right now, maybe you haven’t ready to face them again yet, you still need time to readjust. That is fine. If they really are your family, they will still be waiting for you when you are ready to come back. It takes time to mend relationships, you don’t have to rush yourself. You don’t need to force yourself to do it. Take your time. It’s okay.”

“…You really think so?”

“Yes.” Helen smiled reassuringly and stood up. She stretched her body and patted Penny’s back, urged her to stand up too. “Let’s go to sleep, it’s late. You have your first meeting with the volunteer team tomorrow right? You need to rest well.”

Penny smiled and nodded. She went to the bathroom to wash her tears stained face, when she came back to their bedroom, Helen was already lying in her bed, tucked in her warm, fluffy pink blanket. Penny turned off the light and climbed into her bed. When she was starting to relax into the warm of her bed, Helen suddenly called out again.

“Hey, Penny…”

“Huh?”

“You know that having blood relationship doesn’t mean love, right? My father, despite being biologically related to me, he never really looked at me after all these years. Your family loves you not because you are biologically related to them, they won’t hate you or love you any less for not having it either. Beside,…” Helen tried to keep saying while she was yawning “if it’s really like they said, blood is thicker than water and maple syrup is thicker than blood, then pancakes must be more important than biological family.”

Penny laughed at Helen’s joke, the other girl secretly smiled to herself before murmured a small “goodnight” to Penny. She faintly heard a similar reply at that as she quickly fell asleep.

Penny could hear Helen’s breathe quickly even out. She couldn’t fall asleep yet, so she kept staring at the celling in the dark room. She had never expected to have a heart to heart conversation about family with Helen like that. Helen wasn’t that close with Penny, they had only known each other for a few weeks and Helen didn’t seem like the type of people who would pay attention that closely. Apparently she was wrong. But just like how they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. Helen always seemed to be so confident, carefree, like she didn’t care about what other people think about her, which reminded Penny of MJ. She never thought that Helen would be a person who had such a sad childhood. But after today, she felt like a huge weight lifted of her shoulder, made it so much easier to breath, like she had thrown away something that slowed her down.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed and the screen light up. Penny glanced to where Helen was sleeping and let out a small relieved sigh, she was still asleep. One of Helen’s hobbies was sleeping, it seemed, she loved sleep in during weekend and whenever she didn’t have an early class. Penny actually found it hilarious, because her roommate had a habit of mumbling incoherently when she was sleepy, which amused her to no end.

Quietly picked up her Starkphone from her small bedside shelf to not wake Helen up, Penny unlocked her phone to see the notifications. It was messages from Karen, her AI. Penny had updated her a little bit so they could communicate to each other through texts on her phone, watch and laptop. It would be very suspicious to keep talking to someone who often speak with monotone.

“It seems like you have a good new friend.”

Karen texted, since she was on all of her electronic devices, she kept recording through Penny’s phone or watch. It was just a security measure to protect Penny, which was the main part of Karen’s code. The AI obviously had listened to her teary conversation with Helen. Penny smiled a little and texted back.

“Well, I guess so. Goodnight, K.”

“Goodnight, Penny.”

Penny turned off her phone and put it back on the bedside shelf. She closed her eyes and started falling into sleep.

What Penny didn’t know that ever since she started running away, Karen did background check with anyone who Penny talked to or had interacted with. Helen wasn’t an exception. If anything, Karen had done it even more carefully since this was Penny’s new roommate, who would share a large amount of time with Penny during college and may even be Penny’s newest friend.

Penny didn’t know that she would always have someone in her corner, who would look after her no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back. I just fixed my laptop this morning so I immediately post a new chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it. There is a huge chance that I'm going back to school after this week, the government has agreed to let students comeback school. I guess I'm gonna have so much test, and I can't remember anything! I'm doomed!  
> Spoiler for the next chapter! Some vigilant are going to have a talk with the Avengers! I'm so excited to write about it!
> 
> See you later, guys! I will come back soon with a new chapter!
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also very appreciated!  
> Thanks for your support!


	22. Chapter 22

Natasha slowed the speed of the Quinjet down as it approaching the landing pad. She just came back from Mississippi after another failed attempt at finding Tony’s kid. Since Mississippi was the cheapest state in the USA and one could reach there with car after 17 hours. The distant wasn’t too far and it made sense since the girl didn’t have much money on her, so Natasha and some other Avengers tried to search around the state.

Obviously, they failed.

A monotone voice rang from the speaker next to the pilot’s seat.

“Voice recognition. Please confirm your identity to land.”

“Natasha Romanoff.”

“Confirmed. Do you have any other passengers with you?”

“Steve Rogers, James Barnes.”

Natasha replied the AI and was given a signal to land. After the Quinjet landed successfully on the landing pad, she took off her seat belt and left the pilot room to join with her two friends. Steve was opening the door when she saw him, Bucky standing right behind him, face emotionless.

As they stepping out into the landing pad, the cool night wind brushed against her skin, washing away her tiredness. However, Steve had the opposite reaction, he let out a tired sigh and let loose his posture, the exhaustion in his eyes was so obvious to notice. This mission had drained them. Although Tony had set up an entire system with FRIDAY to search for his kid, he still hadn’t found her yet. Therefore, to help him, the team divided in smaller groups, searching through different places, no, different _states,_ to find the girl. No one had expected that finding a girl was that hard at first, but now, they obviously had realized their mistake. The girl was very impressive, they shouldn’t have underestimated her.

A week or two ago, they received the news about the NYPD’s searching result. The police had come to the conclusion that the girl was dead and close the case. It came so sudden and devastating that they heard Tony and the girl’s aunt had collapsed after receiving the news. The team felt sad for them and had retreated back to the Compound to let them have some time for themselves. Natasha and Steve visited the Tower regularly to offer their comfort and also to check on their friend. They never really met Tony since then, the first time they were there, he was still unconscious in the medbay. On the second time and every time after that, whenever they came, Tony was in the lab, still trying to find his precious daughter. He didn’t give up. Natasha felt sad for him and also for the girl, they only met (officially) one time, but she could see that the kid was a nice child. She had talked to Clint, when the man heard about the news, she could see something like pain, sadness flashed through his eyes. Her best friend obviously was the one who understand Tony’s feeling the most, being a father who once lost his kids for five years, he could feel the pain and sorrow that he was going through.

Everyone on the team could understand what Tony was experiencing, and they knew how horrible it was, but they didn’t know what they should do to help him. Most of them stay back and tried to give Tony and his family space instead of comforting them with words. They heard from Rhodey, whose pain was so obvious in his eyes, that their friend was still trying to find the girl. At first, they felt both sorry and pitied him. But after the first week after the marine drones were sent out passed, they started to doubt the fact that the girl was dead. The drones had searched for miles along the Hudson river but nothing was found, they didn’t doubt Tony’s technology especially when it involved his own kid. Therefore, three days ago, they restarted their search for the girl.

But until now, they hadn’t found anything and Natasha thought that they were going in the wrong direction. Obviously, guessing where the girl might have gone and just went there to find her wasn’t really effective, but without any clue, that was all they could do. However, Natasha was having another idea.

Stepping into the penthouse, the three were greeted again by FRIDAY.

“Good evening, Ms. Romanoff, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Barnes. Mr. Wilson, Dr. Banner and Colonel Rhode are waiting for you in the lounge.”

“Thank you, Fri. Where is Tony? Is he asleep?”

Steve asked, he knew it was already late.

“No, sir is still in the lab.”

“Thanks, Fri.”

After taking the elevator to the upper floor, the three were greeted with the sight of their other teammates sitting around the coffee table on the comfortable couch. Rhodey was the first to notice them.

“Hey, guys. Still nothing, huh?”

“No trace.”

Steve shook his head and let out a sigh with Rhodey. Sam and Bruce didn’t say anything and just looked down. This whole thing was draining them but they couldn’t do anything about it. They mission was to find a teenager girl, enhanced or not, how could it be this hard?!

“I’m gonna talk to Tony.”

Natasha told them and went to the elevator. FRIDAY took her straight to Tony’s lab without asking any question. The glass door slide open and she stepped into Stark’s favorite hideout. The man was still focus on one of the hologram screen and hadn’t notice her appearance, so when she started talking, he jolted in his chair.

“Have you found anything?”

“Jesus Christ Nat! Are you planning to kill me or something?”

Tony exclaimed, a hand clutched his chest in surprise. Natasha just rolled her eyes and said.

“No, drama queen. I just want to ask about your search, that’s all.”

At that, sadness clouded Tony’s eyes once more time and he told her the answer that both of them knew without really asking.

“…No, still nothing. You guys also still haven’t found anything yet, right?”

Natasha shook her head.

“No sign of her.” She paused a bit before started talking again “She can’t just disappear into thin air like this, we must have missed something. Are you sure you have checked everything? What about FRIDAY’s system?”

Tony sighed and said.

“FRIDAY’s system has thousands, no, millions lines of code. It would be easier if she really hacked into it, but I’m afraid that she only broke down some outer firewalls and used her special overdrive code to change the core.”

“You mean she rewrote it?”

“Yes, but it was hard to find any change in all those lines of code.”

“So you only find what? Some trace of her hacking into your firewalls?”

“Yeah, she was quite careful so it was hard to notice at first. But she must have been in a rush so there are some small traces left behind.”

“Have you figured anything else from that?”

“…”

“Tony?”

“…It seemed like…she has watched the fight in Siberia.”

“What?!”

“I don’t think that’s the worst part. She…knew we have lied to her…about my condition.”

Natasha was surprised, she hadn’t heard about this from Tony nor anyone else.

“What do you mean?”

“When I first woke up…my condition,…you know, it was bad. We didn’t want Penny to see me like that, knowing her, she would have beaten herself up. So we lied, and told her that I hadn’t waken up yet for two weeks. We wanted to wait after I have my new prosthetic arm before we finally let her meet me. And apparently, she knew from the first place. Even saw me with her own eyes.”

“…Shit.”

Tony rubbed his temple with his hand and muttered.

“Yeah, shit.”

There was more that he didn’t tell her nor anyone else yet. He had seen more through camera footage of FRIDAY’s system and some traces that Penny had left behind when she hacked his system. They were things that he would prefer to keep between himself and Penny for the meantime, since May’s mental health obviously wasn’t in the good shape to receive it yet.

“Do you think she has asked for help from someone? Like her friends for example.”

Natasha asked and Tony shook his head.

“Penny doesn’t have many friends that I know of. Since before the snap, she only mentioned about two kids. One of them has good skills in coding but I have talked to him through the phone and I don’t think he knew where she is.”

“That’s all? No one else?”

“Yeah, I think so. Penny isn’t really social, she doesn’t have many friends.”

Natasha nodded and fell into deep thoughts. It was hard to believe that the girl had managed to avoid them all on her own, even if she was a genius, she didn’t brought enough money to last for long until she could manage to have a job. Living in America wasn’t that easy. It took her about ten minutes to have another idea.

“Does she have any other friends from her other activity? You know, being Spider Girl and all.”

Tony furrowed his eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“She was a vigilant right? We both know that there are others around New York. There is a high possibility that she has encountered them in the past.”

Tony fell into silence, he hadn’t think about that yet. Penny never mentioned about meeting with any other vigilant. Most of them are dangerous, very dangerous, the girl shouldn’t be around any of them. But Nat was right, there was a possibility, and Tony would hold on any possibility right now.

“FRIDAY, find in our old server, do we have any footage recorded through Karen about Penny meeting any other vigilant? Also, find on the internet, is there any article about Spider Girl and the other vigilant were seen together?”

After two minutes or so, FRIDAY replied.

“We have about six footages in our old server boss. There was also an article with a blurry picture claimed that Spider Girl was seen with Daredevil.”

Tony rubbed his temple. It was good luck that Tony still stored some of Karen’s old footage in his old server, considering that there wasn’t anything about Karen in his new server. But to be honest, he was both surprised and worried, his kid actually met those dangerous people. His heart couldn’t take it, oh dear God.

“Who are those vigilant? We have profiles about their true identity right?”

“Yes, boss. We have profiles of Matt Murdock-Daredevil, Felicia Hardy-Black Cat, Wade Wilson-Deadpool. Do you need the house address of the closest one between the three of them?”

“That’s would be nice, Fri.”

Natasha said and turned to Tony.

“What do we do now? Do you want to go right now?”

Her friend didn’t say anything for a whole minute before eventually nodded his head.

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Great!” another familiar voice suddenly appeared in the room, made both of them startled. Barton jumped out of the vent above them like nothing “Let’s tell the other and go!”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, half amused, half surprised.

“Since when you are here?”

“Eh, ten minutes ago or so. I was curious about what you two were talking about.”

Tony sighed tiredly at his friend, he was too exhausted for this.

Wade was on patrol. Well, yes, he knew how _odd and weird_ it sounded. A menace went on patrol? The world must have turned upside down. But that somehow had turned into Wade Wilson’s new normal. After Penny told them that she was going to quit being Spider Girl, Felicia had been ecstatic. She didn’t want the girl to involved in these type of night activities since it was dangerous, after the whole five years thing, it was hard on her to just let Penny go out as Spider Girl to fight crimes. So when the girl actually didn’t want to continue anymore, she was glad and insisted that they should look out for Queens to encourage Penny to stop being Spider Girl. At least until she is 18.

So they took charge to patrol around New York streets at night, today was his turn. The goal was to keep the crime rate as low as possible so Wade might have done some nasty things to threat those amateur to keep them in check, he didn’t kill though, Penny wouldn’t like it.

It was a total coincident that he saw the Avengers, including Tony Stark, leaving the Tower in a black car in the middle of the night. Now, normally Wade never went to this part of the city, considering that crime rate around the Tower was very low. And he also didn’t want to encounter any of the Earth’s mightiest heroes, that could lead to countless troubles.

Wade would have ignored them and thought _“Maybe they just go for a mission”_ , but there was something had stopped him from doing that and instead of it, he stalked them. Okay, that did sound oddly stupid, even for him, but he was curious…and worried. Something wasn’t right.

And his worry was confirmed when he realized where the black car might heading. He fished out his crappy phone and dialed a number.

“Dude, are you sleeping?”

Felicia, who sounded both sleepy and irritated, answered him.

“What the fuck do you want?”

“I saw the Avengers.” A pause, he could sense that the woman was going to scream at him for calling her for nothing so he quickly added “I think they might be heading toward Matt’s house.”

The woman paused and he could hear something rustled on the other end of the line before the woman replied.

“I’m on my way. Keep an eye on them.”

“Got it. I will keep two eyes on them.”

A loud ‘click’ could be heard. Wade turned his attention back to the black car and quickly ran to Matt’s house, using any shortcut he knew. Of course, he still had eyes on the car. He was on a rooftop three blocks away from Matt’s house and keeping his eyes trained on the car when he heard a loud ‘thump’ behind him, caused him to turned back. It was Felicia, she was in her black suit, eyeing the car worriedly.

“I just checked the traffic camera. It really does seem like they are going to Matt’s.”

“What should we do then?”

The white haired woman pursed her lips for a second before replied with determent in her voice.

“Let’s just go to Matt’s house before them first. Then, we can figure out what to do later.”

Wade nodded his head in respond and the two of them started running toward the other vigilant’ house, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. They managed to get there under two minutes, panting as Felicia knocked on the door and called Matt’s name.

“Murdock! Murdock! Open the door!”

She didn’t have to shout, both of them knew very clearly that the man was very sensitive with sound. 30 seconds later, through the house front window, they saw the light was turned on. After that there was the sound of the door being unlocked and the door swung open. Matt appeared in his blue pajamas and bathrobe. He eyeing them for a brief moment before stepped aside, gave them space to go into the house.

“Come in.”

He said and after both of them were inside, he locked the door again and lead them to the kitchen.

“So, what’s wrong?”

He said as he poured some warm water into a cup and handed it to Felicia. The woman’s hands were freezing because of New York low temperature at night so she immediately accepted the cup. She took a small sip before quickly explained.

“Wade and I think the Avengers are coming to meet you. They seemed to be heading here.”

Matt crossed his arms over his chest, looking deep in thought. It took a moment before he asked.

“How long do you think we have?”

“I don’t know. Two minutes, maybe. They must be near here by now.”

Matt didn’t say anything after that so Felicia asked.

“Do you think they want to talk to you about Penny?”

“…Probably. There is no other reason, we have been keeping low profile recently.”

“Do you think we will need to fight?”

Wade piped up, making the other two look at him. Matt let out a sigh and muttered.

“Let’s try to not get to that.”

Right after he finished that sentence, the doorbell rang. The three of them immediately tensed up, after exchanging glance with each other, Matt walked toward the front door while telling the other vigilant.

“Stay here. I will get the door. Remember, don’t do anything drastic.”

While Matt could not see their face, he could tell that they had nodded in respond. He unlocked the door and opened it, prepared for whatever might happen.

“I must say that I didn’t expect to have any guess like the Avengers at this time.” He said, facing the whole team of Earth’s mightiest heroes, who were standing in front of his door.

“Hello, Mr. Murdock.” Captain America greeted him smoothly “We are sorry to visit you at this hour. However, we are hoping that we could have a small conversation about Spider Girl. Do you mind if we come in?”

Matt didn’t reply, instead, he stepped aside to let them in. After the last one came inside, he closed the door and led them toward the kitchen area.

Felicia stood up from her seat beside the dining table as they came in, Matt walked to stand beside her. Wade was standing a few feet away from them, leaning against the kitchen counter casually.

They parked the car across the street, opposite to the house in the address. As Steve stepped out from the car and closed the door behind him, Clint muttered to himself, loud enough for the others to hear him.

“Is this really a house of a vigilant?”

The house was obviously belonged to someone with high income. It looked new and well maintained with lawn in front of it. This, along with what was written on the ‘normal’ profile of the man they were going to meet, made it hard to believe that Matt Murdock was a vigilant.

They crossed the street in silence after that. When they reached the lawn in front of the house, Nat parted away from them after telling them that she was going to investigate a little first. Steve nodded his head and he led the other to the front door, he pressed the doorbell. A short moment of silence passed before he could hear someone walking toward the door. With a small ‘click’, the door was opened. A man in his blue pajamas and bathrobe stood in front of them, his eyes were closed.

“I must say that I didn’t expect to have any guess like the Avengers at this time.” The man said dryly, his expression didn’t change. He seemed unfazed by their appearance.

“Hello, Mr. Murdock. We are sorry to visit you at this hour. However, we are hoping that we could have a small conversation about Spider Girl. Do you mind if we come in?”

Steve said to the man. He waited for a reaction but after a few seconds of silence, the man just stepped aside to let them in. He didn’t lead them to the living room, instead of doing that, he led them to the kitchen, where there was two other people.

A woman with white hair in black suit and mask was sitting cross leg in one of the chair surrounded the dining table, she put the cup she was holding in her hand on the table and stood up. Her silver eyes scanning through each of them, but lingered on Tony longer than it should be. This really alarmed Steve, the gaze she was giving Tony was cold…with anger. The woman obviously disliked Tony, not that she seemed to like any of them, but the way she look at Tony…it was different, in a dangerous way.

There was another man, they couldn’t see his face since it was covered with mask. He was wearing a red and black suit, there were a pair of katana on his back and a gun attached to his hip. Steve couldn’t say what he might think through the mask, but by the way he just casually leaning on the kitchen counter when they came, he guessed that the man wouldn’t like to be involved if not necessary in whatever they were going to discuss.

Steve knew who they were, in fact, the whole team knew. Tony had shown them the profiles of three of them since the Spider kid had made some encounter with all of them. They weren’t going to meet the other two that night since they were drained, and certainly didn’t expect to meet all of them at once like this.

Matt Murdock went to stand beside the woman. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other. Then, suddenly Murdock said.

“When will your friend finish whatever business she is doing to join this small discussion of ours? Because I think we all need sleep, I have to go to my office early tomorrow.”

That made Steve caught off guard. This man…he knew Natasha was spying around his house. Bruce asked in surprise.

“Wait, you know?”

The vigilant just snorted and replied casually “I’m blind but not stupid. Of course I know the famous Black Widow is spying around my house.”

All the Avengers team could do was staring at the man in awe, some of them were even doubting the fact that the man was blind. Right then, small footsteps could be heard and Natasha appeared on the stairs. She casually walked down to join the team.

“May I ask you a question, Mr. Murdock?”

Natasha asked, face unreadable. The vigilant in question just nodded his head.

“Who is the room on the third floor belonged to? Based on the flowery wallpaper, I don’t think it yours.”

Everyone tensed, all eyes fell on Murdock. But the man didn’t faze, instead he just answer casually.

“It’s Felicia’s. She spends the night here sometimes.”

“Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that the two of you are dating.”

“Well, not everyone knows that we are dating.”

Felicia just said with a small shrug. Steve noticed that Deadpool straightened himself a bit while still didn’t say anything.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

Murdock asked and was replied with another question from Tony.

“Do you know about Spider Girl’s real identity?”

“Oh fuck it, cut the bullshit!”

Felicia snapped, she just snapped at the Avengers. It was a rare occurrence to her. Keeping herself cool all the time was part of her job, but now, she didn’t give a fuck about it. Seeing Stark, standing in front of her made her furious, because whatever had happened with Penny must somehow relate to this man. She knew it, even if the girl didn’t say it out loud.

Penny and Felicia, they were very different. Felicia, she was a street fighter, a thief, she was willing to kill if it meant she could achieve what she want. She was no hero, she was a ‘bad guy’. Penny, on the other hand, was everything Felicia once dreamed to be but could never become like it. She was pure, she was good, she was kind, she was willing to risk her life if it meant she could save other people. She had gone through her own tragedies but it was what made her a hero. Penny was so innocent, she could the good in anyone and anything, she saw this world in a bright way that Felicia could never manage to do. She want to help the other people, she was willing to put herself in danger to do good things. Penny was the definition of ‘hero’.

Many would think that Felicia would hate Penny, because after all, she was a ‘bad guy’ and Penny was a ‘hero’. But that’s where they were wrong, very wrong. Penny was someone that Felicia had dreamed to be, before the whole world crushed her with its cruelty and turned her into someone else, into _her_ of present. No one knew, so it was a small secret of her own, but when she was young, she had always wanted to be someone who would do good things for the other, who would always be willing to help. Fate was cruel, it made her become the exactly opposite of her dream. And Felicia didn’t want that for Penny.

She doubted the girl would ever become like her, she was too pure for her own good. But knowing, having experienced the harsh reality of this world made her worried, Penny might never be possessed by evilness but she could be destroyed by it. After all, Felicia had known firsthand about the cruelty of this world.

But while she thought that Penny was a hero for all her works as Spider Girl, that didn’t mean she wasn’t worry. The girl was 14 when she started going out as Spider Girl. Fucking 14! She had got her super power, sure, but she was lacking so many skills. She wouldn’t be able to get out unscathed if she met a professional fighter. She had been getting better through time, but that wasn’t enough. So she had agreed to collaborate with Wilson and Matt to protect Penny. They kept those who were underground criminals away from Penny and warned the girl to stay away from the dangerous areas (Felicia knew that Matt didn’t tell Penny about those criminals, instead, he told her to stay away from those places since it was ‘his area’). Even if they might never said it out loud or admit it, Felicia knew that Matt and Wilson cared about Penny and the three of them tried their best to protect her.

Then, Stark appeared. Penny was so happy to spend time with that man, always cheerfully rambling about what they did together during her so called ‘internship’. Felicia was well aware of Stark’s infamous past, being a playboy and all. But she wasn’t a journalist or someone who would keep mentioning about that past just to make him looked bad. She was a criminal herself and wasn’t in the right position to judge the man, but she had been there when he flew the nuke into the wormhole back in 2012, and she thought that was enough to prove that he was a true hero. Penny was a hero, but she still lacked many things. Who could be better at guiding her than a real superhero? And Penny had seemed to be happy. Felicia had seen them on the street eating ice cream while talking with each other, and she could see that Stark cared about Penny. So she left Penny in the hand of Stark, thought she would be in good hand. After all, Penny shouldn’t be meeting with criminals like them.

Then Penny was snapped. The Avengers had failed, they lost. Felicia remembered that she had teared up when she went to the Parkers’ apartment one night, after hearing words from Wade, confirming that Stark had told the girl’s aunt that she was also snapped away. She remembered hearing the girl’s aunt screamed in agony that night, wailing and wishing for her kid to come back. Felicia had turned away and never dared to go to Penny’s apartment anymore after that night.

Five years passed and then, Penny came back. She had wanted to see the girl, to hug her, to have a nice little chit chat with her, but she didn’t have any chance. That was before she heard that Penny ran away. Matt called her as soon as he got words from one of the police from the NYPD. Felicia had freaked out, worried out of her mind because she just _couldn’t lose Penny again_. Thankfully, Matt had found Penny when she was wandering alone on the street, Felicia couldn’t be more glad.

The girl started living at Matt’s house and Felicia was able to check on her easily. They settled in the new lifestyle without much effort. Penny still didn’t tell them why she ran away but based on the way her she reacted when he mentioned about Stark and her family, it must have related to them.

Felicia wasn’t mad, per se, she was absolutely _furious_.

How dare he?! How dare he make Penny like that?! How dare he make her precious Penny sad?! How dare he pain the girl?! She had trusted Stark to protect and guide Penny, she had trusted him to keep the girl happy! And now, Penny had run away. Sweet, pure Penny had run away! Felicia felt like Stark had betrayed her trust and that made her really angry.

Now, he showed up here to ask about Penny. What kind of bullshit is that?!

“Why do you pretend like you do care about her?! After all this time?!”

“Because she is my kid and I love her!”

Stark snapped back. The whole room tensed. Steve Rogers was keeping a hand on Stark’s shoulder, seemed like he was conflicting with himself if he should be more worry about his friend’s safety or if his friend was going to attack her first. Matt’s hand was hovering over her shoulder, unsure if he should try to calm Felicia down. He knew that the woman wouldn’t like it.

“So, what would you do when you find her?”

All eyes fell on Wade, he was talking with a casual tone but the seriousness could be seen from the question.

“I mean, you obviously come here to find her right? What would you do if you can find her?”

“I will talk to her…”

“Okay, from how you say it, I don’t think the kind of ‘talk’ you will be giving her is shouting, screaming or cursing right?”

“What? No, no, why would I…”

“That’s a good thing to hear, but why do you think you will find anything about Penny from us?”

The atmosphere was so tense that some of the people in the room had to hold their own breathe. Some of the Avengers started looking at Wade with dangerous eyes like they were going to attack him if he dare talk something wrong.

“What?”

Stark breathed out, he clenched his fists tightly, eyes narrowed.

“Why do you think we would spill anything about her?”

Wade cocked his head to a side, looked at Tony like he was challenging him. Felicia, who had been stopped from keep attacking Stark verbally by a small shush from Matt, chimed in.

“Well, that’s true. We are someone that Penny could lean on and trust, not someone that she need to run away from.”

There was this mocking tone in Felicia’s voice that made the team even more pissed off. Even Steve, who normally is the calmest person in the team, couldn’t hide the irritation on his face. The air was strained and a fight between Earth’s mightiest heroes and New York’s vigilant might happen right then and there, but that didn’t stop Felicia. She continued with anger visibly in her voice.

“We met her before she met you, Stark. We were the one that has protected her from the most dangerous people around New York before you came into the picture. Penny is a good person and she is important to us too. The only reason why we left Penny to you was because we knew how New York thinks about us and we couldn’t let that affect Penny. We trust you, Tony Stark, Iron Man, an Avenger, Earth’s mightiest hero, to protect Penny. And the girl has looked so happy to be with you… But look what has happened, she ran away from you! Because you hurt her! Tell me, tell me Stark! You called her your kid and you said you love her, right? Then why you made her suffer? Why?! Hasn’t she gone through enough!?”

Silence hung in the air as Matt slowly put a hand on Felicia’s shoulder. The man said to Tony, who was having a stunned expression.

“Look, Felicia’s words might be a little too harsh and unconsidered,” The white haired woman scowled at that “but she is right. Penny is an important to us, no matter how you think about it, she is a friend, and we care about her. We don’t know the reason behind this, maybe you really don’t intend to hurt her, maybe you really love her and consider her as your kid, I don’t know. But what matters now is it already happened, things have been done and you can’t undo it. You, maybe not only you, Stark, but you already made her run away. If she doesn’t want to come home then we won’t make her do it. We won’t help you find her nor tell you where she is. Go back, we won’t tell you anything.”

As he finished talking, Matt raised an arm as a way to tell the Avengers that they no longer welcomed in his house. Steve opened his mouth to say something when Clint beat him to it.

“Wait! We won’t ask you about the kid’s location anymore but we need to confirm about her current condition.”

“Clint! We…”

Steve started arguing but Clint cut him off again.

“I think our biggest priority right now is making sure that the girl is safe and healthy, don’t you agree, Tony?”

The archer’s eyes narrowed when he stared Steve down, that effectively shut the other man up. Tony, who the question directed to, nodded and hesitantly asked the vigilant.

“That’s true. Is Penny still okay? She is…still healthy, right?”

For a whole minute, all the vigilant did was staring at Tony with mixed emotions on their faces. Even Felicia, who just looked at Tony with fire in her eyes, softened her gaze a bit. They exchanged meaningful glances between themselves before Matt finally answered.

“She is okay. Very okay, actually. From what I could see from the last time we saw her, she seemed to be happy. She is off for college and is excited to learn new things.”

“That’s a bit too much information, Matt.”

Felicia cut him off, a fond smile appeared on her face.

After that, their ‘small discussion’ ended with the Avengers team leaving Matt’s house in silence.

When they were getting into the car, preparing to go back to the Tower, Clint turned to Tony. He let out a small sigh.

“I know that you are angry at me for stopping you guys from trying to find the location of the kid, Tony. I’m sorry for that.”

Tony didn’t say anything so Clint continued.

“Lila and Cooper get mad at me all the time, and it’s not all because of they are moody teenagers. Sometimes, it’s my faults. When things like that happens, the kids will stop talking to me, for days. But I never thought of forcing to talk to me when they are not ready. We are adults, yet we choose to run away or try to ignore our problems sometimes. I think the kids have that right to do that too. I don’t say that you should stop looking for her, but I think you should spend more time on thinking about what happen after you found her. Maybe think about what you would tell her during your talk together. That should also be in your priority list too.”

Tony just nodded his head and the two of them climbed into the car. The whole ride back to the Tower was filled with heavy silence, but Tony didn’t care. His mind kept wandering back to the sight of Penny sitting outside Morgan’s glass door, soaked with rain, crying while her stabbing wound bleed. He only recently found it through FRIDAY’s old footage when he tried to find something that could help him find her.

Tony knew that the Black Cat was right. She just said what she believed to be true, which wasn’t wrong. Penny was his kid and she had gone through so much, yet he had hurt her. He had made a huge mistake that he wasn’t sure if he could ever make up to it. He didn’t know how to fix this, so he tried to focus on finding her first and avoid thinking about a solution. What would he do after finding her? Did Penny even want to be found? Would she even want to go back with him when he found her?

Clint was right, he needed to think about what he would do after he found her. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a fitted answer to this situation, but for Penny, he would try his best. He would go as far as he needed to, it was for his kid after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back. I actually intended to update yesterday night, but I kept having to rewrite it. I have reread and rewrite it over and over again, not fun, I must say. I still feel a bit unsatisfied with this chapter and you may find it so crappy. That's why I kept rewrite this chapter. I'm feeling super sleepy so I don't think I'm thinking straight right now. Forgive me if I'm making grammar mistakes in this note.  
> Just go back to school today. Finally, after over two months! I have never imagined that I would be so happy to come back to school, but here we are. I'm gonna have a lot of tests so it would be hard to update. I won't drop this story but the speed will be slower. If we are lucky enough, we will have a weekly update on this story. Hopefully I won't jinx it.
> 
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think. Kudos are also very appreciated.


	23. Always be here for you.

Natasha sighed as she noticed Tony zoned out once more. It was good that the man was having some kind of distraction so he could finally stop losing his damn mind but right now, they need him to focus on their current problem.

Since they came back from Murdock’s house yesterday night, she had tried to gather as much information as she could to find the girl, so now the team was having a meeting to discuss what they had found so far.

“Tony, I know you have been thinking about what Clint and that woman told you yesterday but let’s focus on our current problem, okay?”

Tony startled and he blinked several times in surprise before regaining his usual demeanor and said.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

Natasha nodded her head and continued.

“So, the Daredevil told us that she is currently away from college. It’s an important hint. Does anyone have suggestions?”

Sam raised his hand and asked.

“Can we just trace the camera footage around Murdock’s house? There is a huge chance that she has come to his house.”

Natasha shook her head.

“No, we can’t. I have already tried. But from what I have seen, most of those footages have been changed. They cut and replaced some of them with the footages recorded from long before. It’s almost perfect, if I’m not a super spy, I wouldn’t be able to realize that it’s fake. It must be works from that woman.”

“The Black Cat?”

Steve asked, raised an eyebrows in question.

“Yes, it seems so. Felicia Hardy has been a professional thief long before the snap. It seems like she has stopped doing that, but with all that skills? It wouldn’t be too hard for her to change some footage.”

“Damn it.”

“Yeah, damn it. So now we have to focus on the other clue: The kid is away for college.”

They fell into silence again, and after a moment, Clint said.

“He said ‘is away for college’. That means she must be renting a place to live near the college or she is…”

“…living in the dorm.”

Clint and Natasha said in unison and the recognition flashed on the face of some of them.

“In most places, dorm is more expensive that off-campus apartment.”

Bruce mused and the female spy just nodded her head.

“That’s right. We also need to consider about her financial state. She didn’t bring much money with her and if she is studying in college, she must have some kind of part-time jobs. I don’t think she would be able to handle too much.”

Sam nodded and said.

“Agree. We should probably check to see which college have low tuition fee.”

“So, no Ivy League or something like that then?”

“Yeah, those are too expensive.”

Tony stopped them.

“Wait, but he said Penny was excited to learn new things. The normal college with low tuition fee wouldn’t be able to satisfy her with their curriculum.”

The team stared at him in silence before Bruce broke it.

“You taught her, right Tony? How much does she know?”

Tony hesitated.

“Like…half way through college? At least in subjects that involved science.”

“…well, damn.”

“But then how could she be able to pay the tuition fee?”

Clint asked, his brows furrowed.

“I don’t know, Clint. Scholarship, maybe?”

“Is there really any scholarship offer students that much?”

“It’s rare, but not really that uncommon, Clint.” Bruce said “If a university sees great potential in a student, they can create a special fund for that student. If the kid can show her true talent to them, then it can be done.”

“…okay, so we still count those expensive colleges then?”

“Probably. I mean that seems pretty logical to me.”

“But normally, renting an apartment or something like that means you have to buy furniture, right? Doesn’t normal dormitory provide those things?”

Steve mused and Bruce nodded in confirmation as he replied.

“Yes. Mostly just basic stuffs like bed and desk though.”

“So basically, she can also choose to stay in the dorm, is that what I heard?” Sam asked and groaned “Why this must be so hard?”

“Maybe because of the fact that she is a genius who is smart enough to hack Stark’s system…I need a cup of water.”

Barnes mumbled and stood up to go to the kitchen. The others nodding in agree and also followed him. This really stressed them out.

The only one who didn’t leave the room were Clint and Natasha. The moment when Tony, the last person who decided to leave the meeting room for a bit, out of hearing range, Clint turned to Natasha, his face was having a very serious expression.

“What are you hiding?”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him but Clint ignored it and continued.

“I know you, Nat. What are you still hiding?”

“…A car.”

“What?”

“There is a red sport car, Tesla Roadster 2020 to be exact. I have traced its license plate and found some interesting footages. They were recorded in a showroom.”

Clint raised an eyebrow with interest, he leaned on the table and asked.

“What did you find?”

“A couple, a blind man with a white hair woman, went to buy that car. They said to the salesperson that they were buying the car as a gift for their young friend’s sixteen birthday.”

“Ohhh, interesting. Do you think that “young friend” that they mentioned is the kid?”

“Probably. We just need to wait and see. I have already made some plans for that.”

Clint hummed, not too surprised by how quick Natasha had worked the moment she got her hand on the necessary information. However, he did frown and hesitate a bit before reluctantly asked her.

“Hey, Nat? You don’t plan to tell Tony right away, right?”

Natasha pressed her lips into a thin line before answering her best friend.

“No, we are still not sure of it’s really her or not. Beside, I need to talk to the kid first. I need to know her side of the story first before deciding anything.”

True to her words, Natasha started trailing after the red sport car that she had seen at Murdock’s house. She had secretly put a small GPS tracker on the car so she would be notified the moment the car started moving. Therefore, the moment the red car was driven out of the garage, Natasha quickly grabbed a pair of normal civilian clothes and a cap which she often used when she went undercover, climbed into the most subtle car that they had in the Compound and headed to catch up with the car.

After using some shortcut, Natasha found the car just a few meters ahead of hers. She slowed her car speed down a bit, maintaining their distance so no one would be suspicious of anything.

The red sport car finally stopped and a white haired woman stepped out. Natasha parked her car on the other side of the street but she didn’t get out yet, instead, she chose to keep watching the woman. Even when it was another person who had been driving that car, she didn’t feel disappointed or surprise, in fact, she didn’t expect it would be the girl in the first place.

Felicia Hardy kept glancing around like she was looking for something, or rather, someone. The woman took out her phone and typed something on it before noticing someone approaching her. Natasha actually was the one that see the girl first, silky blonde hair, wearing a denim jacket, t-shirt with a pair of racked jeans, she shouted Hardy’s name just before she jumped on the woman for a hug. The white haired woman seemed to not mind about the overexcited action of the girl, in fact, she actually laughed out loud and caught them just in time so both of them wouldn’t fall onto the sidewalk.

From inside the car, Natasha was _certain_ that the girl was Penny Parker. She looked a bit different from the picture she had seen with her dyed blond hair, but there was no mistake that it was the girl. Natasha was just about to open the door to step out when a man with a pair of black glass knocked on her window, her eyes immediately hardened when she recognized who it was.

She slide down the window, her gaze was sharp from under the black cap that she was wearing, Natasha started talking, her voice never wavered.

“Matt Murdock.”

The said man was standing right outside of her car, wearing a black suit and glasses, slightly leaning down to be at her eyes range. He let out a humorless chuckle and said.

“I’m glad you still remember me, Ms. Romanoff. I think we haven’t had much chance to talk the last time so I’m thinking about continuing our conversation. What do you think about that?”

Natasha glanced at the two female who were standing across the street, still chatting happily with each other before glancing back at the man in front of her. She pursed her lips before finally making a decision and opened the car door.

Stepping out, the first thing she noticed was the white cane that was being gripped tightly in the man’s right hand, who had then straightened his posture. Her mind immediately wandered back at what she had read on the file about Matt Murdock, there wasn’t much information about him. While it wasn’t too hard to figure out Daredevil’s identity based on the blood that was left sometimes on the scene, both SHIELD and Tony couldn’t be able to track what the vigilant actually did. Very different from Spider Girl, most of his actions were carefully hidden in the dark without much trace to find. However, what the file had mentioned, only briefly as an assumption, Daredevil’s weapon was a specially designed cane, something that the man always carrying around. If Natasha wasn’t a superspy and her instinct wasn’t watching out for any potential threat, maybe she wouldn’t pay any mind to it. But she was, and she couldn’t help but silently checking the gun on her hip.

Natasha followed the man in silence as Murdock led her to an alleyway next to a coffee shop near where she parked her car before suddenly stopped and leaned his back on the wall, looking at her.

“We were very impressed with the size of the tracker that you stuck on the car, I guess that comes with being a SHIELD agent who work with Tony Stark, am I right?” he said only paused a little before started talking again “Felicia wasn’t all that impressed actually. She was mad that you stuck that thing on the car, because, you know, that car cost us quite a lot. But I have managed to convince her before she could crush it by her feet, so, here.”

He threw the black, small tracker at her and Natasha easily caught it with her right hand, she scanned the thing as she asked.

“How did you know?”

“We have camera hidden in the garage.” Matt said nonchalantly “Ask Felicia for details about that, she is the mastermind behind it.”

Natasha narrowed her eyes, her gaze was sharp as she looking at the Daredevil.

“What do you want to talk to me about?”

“Penny, of course.” The man answered, voice serious “We had a very serious discussion before finally came to a decision. Oh, right, I almost forget it, but Wilson will stay on guard during this talk in case there is any intruder.”

Natasha immediately looked up and saw the other vigilant sat on the rooftop, fake salute her. She clenched her jaw, she wasn’t too happy with the current situation. She was a powerful woman who often had control over any kind of situation, she didn’t like to be planned.

“We understand that Stark is very worry about her and want her to come back as soon as possible, and you, as his friend, or comrade, will try your best to help him. However, we don’t think we will let you do take her back, at least for now.”

The man got straight to the point, which was a smart move, considering the fact that Natasha had never like bullshit. But what the man just said…

“What do you mean?”

The woman’s voice was low and dangerous, threatening. However, Matt wasn’t fazed by her change in demeanor, he was completely calm, as if he didn’t expect the reaction to be any different. Maybe he really didn’t.

“I mean exactly what I just said. We won’t let you take her away in the meantime.”

“Why?”

“Because she won’t want to.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, clearly taken back by Matt’s answer.

“Our decision is based on Penny’s current best interest. If Penny doesn’t want to go back yet, we won’t let anyone force her to do it.” The man took off his glasses and stared at her with her blue eyes, even when Natasha knew that the man was blind, the gaze he gave her…didn’t really seem like it. He continued “I don’t care what you guys think, but we won’t change our minds. We will support Penny no matter what is her decision.”

“She is a child, a kid who still needs guidance. She needs her parents advices, needs their protection. She cannot make a smart decision on her own yet. What happened between her and Tony, and her aunt…I don’t really know what it is, but I’m pretty certain that she ran away in the middle of… an emotional crisis…”

“…which she hasn’t really recovered from.” Matt cut her off which earned him a glare from the superspy “It’s been months since she ran away from you guys and since I found her, but she hasn’t open up yet. Not really, anyway, she has never mentioned about why she left, always clamped shut whenever the topic was brought up. Until now, we avoid that topic so she would be more comfortable around us. She looked more happy nowadays, she smiles and laughs more, always excited to talk about what happens at school whenever she visit us or over the call with Felicia. From my perspective, she is slowly easing back to her old, happy self. We honestly don’t think this is the best time to force her to go back and talk.”

“We don’t want to force her.”

“But that’s what you will have to do, right? Dragging her back to talk with her guardians, or parents, whatever, who she has ran away from. We know that you have good intention and Stark just want to fix this, but this is still not the fittest time.”

“…You want us to wait for her to come back on her own?”

“Yes.”

Matt answered her calmly, there was no hesitation in his voice.

“She is a child who is having all freedom in the world right now, how long do you think it will take her to come back?”

Natasha asked the vigilant with an unimpressed expression but the man just snorted.

“Knowing her? It won’t take that long. I only ask this because I know she needs time to figure things out on her own. She should only come back to talk when her mind is clear enough to have a heart to heart conversation with her guardians…or parents.”

Natasha pursed her lips as she fell into deep thoughts.

Sure, the reason that the vigilant gave her was valid, but the more important thing was if Natasha could trust him. No matter what, these people were criminal with not-so-clean background, and leaving Tony’s kid in their care wasn’t sounding like the greatest idea. Natasha could easily imagine how Tony would react when he know that she didn’t tell him about having found the kid and let her continue staying with the people that was almost impossible to trust.

But…

“I won’t tell Tony about this, but…” she raised her voice a little “I want to have a talk with her.”

Hearing Natasha’s demand, Matt frowned, but before he could reply, Wade had already beaten him to it.

“This, we cannot agree.” He said from where he sat on the rooftop, voice never wavered at Natasha’s heated gaze “Penny has the right to choose who she will talk to and we won’t force her to do what she might not want to do. We will ask her about it for you, but if she doesn’t agree, we will make sure that you can’t make her do it.”

Natasha shrugged her shoulder “That’s fair.” A short pause then “The therapist that had talked with her guardians said that she might have problems with insecurities.”

Matt frowned slightly as he nodded “Noted. We will try to do something about that.”

The woman turned back to look for the girl but realized that the other two female and the car had disappeared. She asked Matt.

“Where have they gone to?”

“Felicia is going to teach her how to drive the car so of course they have to drive. Beside, parking a Tesla Roadster 2020 can attract many unwanted attention.”

Natasha hummed in reply before turning back to look at the man, her eyebrow raised as she asked him.

“So,…why choose that car? It’s not easy to buy that car, as far as I know of.”

Matt smirked “Well, we can’t just buy a shitty car that can hardly compared to whatever that Stark might buy for her now, can we? Can’t let the man be too smug about that, he already has a too big ego.”

“Huh? That makes perfect sense.”

Felicia anxiously tapping her foot against the pavement as she took her phone out to check it one more time. After a long discussion which happened after the Avengers left Matt’s house, they have come up with a plan. The three vigilant knew about the GPS tracker that Romanoff stuck on Penny’s car (which Felicia was still pissed about), they decided to meet up with at least one of the Avengers, not Stark of course, because knowing that team, they wouldn’t give up that easy. They need someone who will agree with what they say and might be willing to help them, in other words, they need a comrade . The perfect choice was Natasha Romanoff, of course, the woman was a superspy, she knew how to keep secret and she had been the one who stuck the tracker on the car. There was a high chance that the woman might have already talked with her teammates about the tracker, but if she didn’t, which they hope it was what had happened, then it would be much easier to work.

Felicia was very against the idea of letting Stark know about Penny’s whereabouts, she was still pissed off at the man and wasn’t planning to forgive him any time soon, thank you very much. However, what could be the best for Penny should be their first priority, so, after some coaxing from Matt (a lot of it, actually) she finally agreed to meet up with an Avenger, not Iron Man though.

They set a plan, a plan to lure one of the Avengers out to talk with Matt. With the tracker on Felicia’s hand, she would become the bait and if everything go smoothly like how it was planned, then the Avengers would follow her. Of course, if the one who go after her is Tony Stark, then the plan would be canceled. So, Felicia called Penny out for a driving lesson, letting the Avengers see the girl wasn’t the safest choice but it might help convincing them to have a talk with Matt.

And so far, God had truly blessed them with great luck this time. After just about 15 minutes of driving, Felicia knew that their plan had worked perfectly. Natasha Romanoff was trailing behind her and she was the only Avenger that had appeared. It had happened just like how they have wished.

As she parked in front of the familiar coffee shop that she usually went with Penny and stepped out of the car, she could feel the other woman’s gaze bored at her. Felicia was familiar with watching other people but she wasn’t used to have to pretend that she didn’t know that she was being watched and still need to stay in the same place. It was unnerving.

She tightened her jaw but still maintain a neutral expression so the superspy wouldn’t know that this was just a plan that they had set up. They still need a little more time until Penny show up.

Speaking of the girl, where’s she?

She checked her phone one more time just in case Penny had sent her some kind of message that she would be late or something, but found none. Just when she was going to pocket her phone, she received a short message from Matt.

_“Penny is here.”_

Felicia looked up from a phone just in time to see Penny dashing toward her, a bright smile was on the girl face and at that moment, she couldn’t help but thought

_She looked so happy…just like the old time…_

Penny jumped into her arms for a hug and Felicia managed to catch both of them before they could fall on the pavement, a loud laugh escaped her mouth. For a second, Felicia forgot that they were having a small ‘mission’.

As they parted away from the hug, Penny immediately launched into a talk about what just happened at school and how she was nervous that she was going to drive her car for the first time. Felicia smiled at her, relaxed as she gave the girl all her attention. She just saw Matt and Romanoff walked toward the alleyway from the corner of her eye, so it should be fine now.

Suddenly, Penny stopped her excited rambling, she looked around which alarmed Felicia, and nervously asked as she kept searching.

“I just felt someone looking at us, like…they were watching very closely. Do you see anyone watching us?”

_Oh, it must be her Spider sense._

Felicia thought as she reassured Penny.

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Anyone who see your car would be very curious, it’s not every day that you can see a red sport car like this.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

Penny nodded as the tensed expression disappeared from her face. It’s nice to see that the girl trusted her enough to not have any second thought.

Felicia smiled as she guided Penny toward the car.

“Let’s start our talking again when we drive, okay? It would be troublesome if the car attract even more attention.”

They got into the car and Felicia started teaching the girl how to use the car.

Tesla Roadster 2020 wasn’t the normal type of car that you could meet every day. It was called as “the car of the future” and with its limited production, it was rare. The car contained the world’s best technology and it worked quite different from normal car, anyone who had never used it before would be struggling to just turn it on.

Felicia had only driven this car twice times, however, she also had a Tesla car model Y so she wasn’t unfamiliar with it. She carefully taught Penny from how to turn it on to how to probably drive it. The older woman was enjoying every moment of this as she looked at Penny’s amazed face. As she expected, Penny was fascinated with the technology that was used the car. They started heading toward the upstate since it would have less car on the road there. It actually took some coaxing and reassurance from Felicia (“It will be okay Penny, this car has special safety feature, you don’t have to worry that much.”) for Penny to start driving herself.

At first, they sat in silence for quite a long time since Felicia knew that Penny was nervous. It wasn’t until when the car entered upstate New York and Penny was starting to relax that the white haired woman said something.

“Nice nails.”

She commented as she looked at Penny’s new polished nails, they did look really cute in Felicia’s opinion. It fitted well with Penny’s bubbly personality: pink hearts with white color as the background. Penny seemed to be a little caught off guard at first but her expression quickly turned cheerful as she said.

“Oh, this? Helen painted them for me! She said my nails were a bit bland and asked if I would want her to help painting them!”

“Really? Do you like it?”

“I’m not too sure at first but now I think it looks cute.”

“I think it looks cute too. It really suits you.”

Penny blushed.

“Thanks.”

“Helen is your friend right? The roommate that you have talked about?”

Felicia asked curiously. She wanted to make sure that this new friend of Penny is a good person, no one could harm her Penny!

“…Yeah, yeah, she is.” Penny nodded her head, her eyes still on the road as she answered “She is a nice person, a nice friend.”

As she said that, the girl went oddly quiet that alerted Felicia.

_There must be a story behind this._

The older woman thought silently as she made a goal to undercover the reason why suddenly Penny looked a little down.

“Last week, the Avengers team just gave us a surprised visit.”

Penny whipped her head around and looked at Felicia with wide eyes.

“Eyes on the road, Penny.” Felicia gently reminded the girl, unfazed. Penny quickly looked back at the road in front of them, the older woman could see how the girl hands’ tightened its grip on the wheel. “Technically, they wanted to give Matt’s a surprised visit but Wade saw them, he alerted both of us and we decided to meet them all at once, to see what they want.”

Felicia paused a little to inspect the teenage girl before continuing.

“They asked about you, Penny.” The girl’s body immediately stiffened “They asked how are you doing right now? Are you safe and healthy? They wanted to know where you are.”

Penny held her breath as Felicia paused a little.

“But we didn’t tell them where you are. We got your back, Penny. You don’t have to be worry.”

Penny turned her head to look at Felicia and the other female gave her a small reassurance smile as she gently carded her hand through the girl’s hair.

“You…you really didn’t tell them? But…why?”

Felicia tilted her head to the side and asked Penny with confusion.

“I thought you don’t want them to know?”

“Oh,…okay. Can we stop for a bit?”

The teenager girl took some shaky breaths as she said. They stopped on the side of the road, there wasn’t many car heading this way so it was fine to stop for a moment.

“You okay?”

Felicia asked with worries laced in her voice. Penny was looking slightly pale and she was breathing shakily.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. I just need a moment.”

Penny said and took some calming breaths before turned to Felicia to ask.

“Do you really mean it? I mean…about…”

_Oh._

Felicia thought as realization dawned on her face, she answered Penny with sincerity in her voice.

“About us have got your back? Of course, Penny. We are here for you.”

“But I…I left…”

“What…?”

Tears were starting to well up in Penny’s eyes. Something had been there, inside her, eating her little by little ever since she reunited with the other vigilant, was starting to show.

“I left you guys…I mean…I have avoided the three of you since I started my internship with Mr. Stark. You…you know that right?”

Felicia blinked in surprise, she wasn’t expecting Penny to mention about that.

“Yes? We all knew about that.”

“But then…why? Why do you still help me? I left you.” Penny said, shaking her head, tears spilling on her face “You shouldn’t care about me. I’m a bad person.”

Okay, that’s enough for Felicia. The older woman reached her hands out and held Penny’s shoulder with a firm grip that made the teenager girl look at her.

“No. No, that’s not true. You are not a bad person, Penny. You never were and never could be. You understand me? Never, never ever think about yourself like that again.”

“But, but…I left…”

Felicia sighed.

“You never left though.”

“I did. I avoided meeting you guys.”

“But you still considered as your friends right?”

“Of course. You are my friends.”

“If we get in troubles and you can help, will you help us? Or you will abandon us?”

Penny widened her eyes in shock and shook her head.

“No! Of course not! I will always help you!”

“And isn’t that the point of having a friend?”

Felicia asked gently, she looked at Penny’s face carefully as the young girl let the words sink in. She continued after a short pause.

“Friends help each other when needed, and that’s what we do, isn’t it. You avoided meeting with us because you have a close relationship with an Avenger, which could possibly cause us some major problems, am I right?”

That…was true. Penny was having the perfect life when she had the “internship” with Mr. Stark, it was nice to spend time with the man. However, it was also a big problem. Mr. Stark was a superhero who wouldn’t like her to have any kind of relationship with the other ‘menaces’ around New York, not to mention what kind of mess that could happen if the man really meet the other vigilant. So Penny had chosen the simplest solution to avoid bad things from happen: she stayed away from the other vigilant. Penny still considered them as her friends of course, but that’s another reason to give up on her relationship with Felicia, Matt and Wade. She couldn’t get them into troubles! After a few months without encounter with the other vigilant, Penny thought their friendships had ended, she was sad, but thought it would be the best for all.

She never expected to reunite with them in a circumstance like this.

“Penny, listen to me” Felicia took Penny’s hand in hers “I, WE, knew why you did that, and we understood. We weren’t mad and hate you for that. What you did…It wasn’t wrong. You did it for what you thought was the best for all of us, we couldn’t blame you for it. We are still friends, and that would never change.”

“…Really?”

Penny asked hesitantly. What Felicia just said,…it was just too good to be true, especially for someone like Penny. The girl wasn’t someone who had much hope at something like ‘stability’. Since her parents’ deaths, and after what happened with Ben, she had been waiting for something…something bad to happen and take everything away from her. To be honest, she wasn’t all that surprise or caught off guard with the whole ‘snapping incident’, she always knew someday her infamous Parker’s luck would strike her again.

And that was exactly what happened.

It might sound really depressing, but Penny always expecting that everyone in her life would someday left her. Could she believe Felicia that she would never left behind by her three vigilant friends? Could she hope for something like that?

And almost like the woman knew what she was thinking, Felicia answered her. The older female’s voice dripped with sincerity and her eyes shone with such a certain that made Penny believe her.

“Yes. We will always be friends. That will never, never ever change, I promise.”

Penny always thought she was a crybaby and that made her weak and pathetic, so she rarely cried in front of anyone else, but at that moment, she just couldn’t help but burst into tears and fell into Felicia’s open arms for comfort. She cried into the older woman shoulder, listening to her soft murmur, feeling the way Felicia’s hand gently brushed her hair while the woman rocked them back and forth.

Matt was sitting on the sofa, leaning comfortably on a pillow and reading a book when Felicia entered the room. The woman came to his house right after dropping Penny at her school, she just finished taking a bath in Matt’s bathroom, her hair was wet and the smell of rosy shampoo in the room alert Matt of her appearance even before she stepped in. She tightened her bathrobe as she walked across the room to take a glass of water.

The bathrobe was short but she didn’t pay any mind to it. Normally, whenever she wore something ‘sexy’, the eyes of every man in the room would trail after her. Her beauty was something very useful to seduce the other men to help her when she had something she wanted to achieve, she had found her own way to use it effectively. But she never liked it. The way the gaze of the men burned as they look at her made Felicia feel sick to her stomach. All those men, even when they used sweet words to talk to her, she always knew all they wanted and thought of was her body. They never loved her. Most people only look at her for her beauty, but she couldn’t complain though. What she had that made her deserve to be loved? She wasn’t kind or pure or anything like that. She was greedy and selfish, and evil, she was a villain.

But that didn’t stop her from yearning for love, for someone that could love her for _her._

Felicia grew up under the _care_ of her birth parents, but she never knew the feeling of being loved, being cherished. She never knew the feeling of being…an important person to someone.

When Penny came, that changed. Penny taught Felicia how to love and how to be loved. The child thought about her as a precious friend, and that was the greatest gift the girl could ever give to Felicia. With Penny’s appearance, _something_ also changed with her and Matt’s relationship.

Even before Penny came to picture, Felicia already had _a relationship_ with Matt. They never like each other and one of Felicia’s favorite hobbies was messing with Matt, but overall, they liked keeping distant from each other. When Penny appeared, things…got a bit different.

Felicia could call Penny as a ‘matchmaker’ since her romantic relationship with Matt started with their alliance when both of them were trying to keep Penny out of dangerous situations. And it just kept…,you know what, from there.

Matt would never look at her with those thirsty eyes like the other men (which made sense, since you know, he was blind), he understood her problems and didn’t judge her for what she did. They really shared a lot in common.

Felicia flopped down on the sofa next to Matt and quickly leaned herself on his shoulder and let herself relax. The man didn’t seem to mind at all, even when he could feel the wetness from his lover’s hair. In fact, he wrapped his free hand around Felicia’s shoulder to pull her closer.

“How was the talk?”

Felicia asked as she snuggled closer to Matt’s side.

“Quite okay, we are really lucky this time.”

“Oh? What did she say?”

“She demanded a chance to meet and talk to Penny.”

Felicia frowned.

“You didn’t agree, did you?”

The man shook his head as he replied.

“No, of course not. I told her that it depends on Penny’s wish, it’s not our decision.”

Felicia hummed in respond. The settled in a comfortable silence for a moment before Matt quietly said.

“Romanoff said Penny had some problems with insecurities.”

That made Felicia freeze for a second before musing.

“That made sense.”

“Hmm? There seems to be something missing here. Care to fill me in?”

Matt said as he slowly put down his book to look at Felicia, his hand played with her long hair.

“I will tell you and Wade the details later. But basically, I told Penny that we would always be her friends.”

“And that’s not a false promise.”

Matt mused, started to understand a bit of the untold story.

“Penny needs our support and I want us to give her that.”

Felicia said and her boyfriend just hummed as he rested his cheek against Felicia’s head. The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by Felicia’s phone. Matt reached out to take the ringing phone from the coffee table and gave it to Felicia.

“It’s Penny.”

Felicia said and accepted the call. Penny’s panicking voice immediately reached her ears.

“Felicia, Helen saw you dropping me off this afternoon, she said the car is a Tesla Roaster, which is cost like hundred thousand. Please, for the sake of everything holy in this world, tell me Matt didn’t waste more than two hundred thousand dollars to buy that car for me!”

Felicia burst out laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a longggggg break! But I'm so busy with school and tests! It seems like I won't have a proper summer holiday this years T_T. I have started writing this chapter 3 weeks ago, but it was just too hard to write and I have to erase most of it . Ughh!   
> I won't drop this fic but the next chapter will also be updated late. Maybe after another three weeks, at least.  
> I hope you enjoy reading this! And as an apologize for updating late, spoiler for the next chapter!  
> We will finally have the meeting that we have all waiting for from the beginning of the story!!!
> 
> Wish me luck with the test :/  
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also appreciated!


	24. Meeting Morgan Stark!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, uh, may have done a bad job at phrasing the last chapter's spoiler. This isn't what many of you might think.  
> Sorry about that.

Penny was pretty content with her current life.

She had been doing quite well with her part time jobs and her employer was happy enough with her work that she said she would raise Penny’s salary starting from the next month. She had finished several projects for the robotics club, including her personal project. Helen had introduced her with some of her friends and they had been getting along quite well. She finally finished her small research in Biology and her study had been posted on some scientific journals. Her study received a good amount of compliments and her biology professor thought that she should give a presentation about it.

That was why she gave a small presentation on that day. Even if it wasn’t the first time she give a presentation on her project to many other students of ESU, she still felt super nervous. She only managed to shake it off after taking some deep breathes and received some reassurance from her friend, Helen. As she finished answering some questions from the listeners, she noticed Mr. Brown, ESU’s rector, who had given her the scholarship, standing near the back of the room. That’s strange. It was unusual to see the man joined in a presentation of a student, scholarship or not.

Penny quickly wrapped her presentation up, many students who listened to her thanked Penny as they went outside. Penny replied to them politely with a shy smile and a small nod. Even when she had finished her talking, she was still shaking a little from nervousness. Penny hoped she would be more confident in the future after she done more presentation like this, because, like they always say, practice make perfect.

As there wasn’t as much people in the room like a moment before, the teenager girl quickly realized that Mr. Brown, her school’s rector was walking toward her from across the room. The man was smiling when he approached her.

“The presentation was a success. It was very impressive. You must be quite proud of your study.”

He said and Penny replied with a shy smile.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I have joined since when you just started talking and I must say that I rarely saw any student who was able to do this much during their first year. You have great potential, Ms. Parker, just like I thought when I decided to give you the scholarship.”

Penny’s palm started sweating. Holy sh**, he wasn’t going to take her scholarship away right?? If he really take it away she would have to drop out, which Penny absolutely DIDN’T want to.

“I have an offer for you Ms. Parker that I think it will give you great opportunities. I want to discuss more about it with you, only if you are interested of course.”

“Oh?” She let out a small nervous laugh, unsure what she should response to the older man “May I ask what is it about?”

“It’s a kind of part-time job that involves talking and explanation for the students. Somewhat like a teacher. This is related to a partnership program between ESU and one of our investors. He gives our school a large amount of money every year to upgrade our programs and equipment. Considering that you have enough knowledge about scientific subjects, already joined in one of our school’s programs as a librarian and seems to be quite good at explaining things, I think it will suit you.”

“That does sound really interesting. Can I know more details about it?”

“Sure, let’s talk in my office, shall we?”

Penny agreed, relaxed slightly since she was quite certain that the rector wasn’t going to take away her scholarship. She followed the man and they talked as they were walking on the long corridor, which was still slightly crowded even when it was the weekend, when most students often choose to take a day off.

“So, I heard from Prof. Gray, your bioengineering lecturer, that you were invited to his study group?”

Penny blushed “Ah, yes. I heard that it will be very useful to join in the group since I can have a chance to exchange more ideas.”

Mr. Brown laughed lightly.

“That is quite impressive, I must say. Most students who is invited personally by Prof. Gray into his study group are third year student. Never heard him mentioned about a first year student before. I thought you will shine with chemistry, but now you prove to me that you have more talents than I have thought. Keep up with the good work, Ms. Parker, our school can give our best students the greatest opportunities.”

“Of course, sir.”

The girl answered, blushed a little.

They soon arrived at Mr. Brown’s office. As they stepped inside, Penny looked around in mere curiosity. The room wasn’t large but was designed well so everything fitted perfectly. The girl could see many books on the shelves and some painting hang on the walls.

Mr. Brown told her to sit on the chair in front of his desk while he searching for something in his drawer. Finally, he took out a yellow file folder and gave it to the girl. Penny opened it and started reading the papers inside.

“They are all the details and legal documents that you need to know.” Mr. Brown said and Penny looked up from the stack of papers in her hands “You can bring this back with you to read through all of it before giving me your answer. The job is somewhat like an elementary teacher. Your main duties are offering guidance and supervising the children who sign up to the STEM club program at Jupiter Elementary school so they can explore all the activities safely.”

“Oh.”

“The job isn’t all that complicated as you might thought. The main goal is to make the children love science more and have more experience in lab. The program doesn’t consist anything dangerous and might be harmful to the kids, so you don’t have to worry.”

Penny hesitated, she was uncertain.

“Do you really think that I will fit with this type of job? I mean, I don’t really have much experience with children and I haven’t acquired any academic degree yet.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Most of the time this kind of job is given to one of our professors, but we want to change it this year. We think that letting a younger person in charge will make the club more exciting for the kids. I already talked to the principal of the school, she thought that it would be fine even if you haven’t graduate yet since I said that you have enough knowledge for this type of job.”

“Oh, that’s…very kind of you.”

Penny wasn’t sure what to say to Mr. Brown but it seemed like the man didn’t mind.

“This is a part of the partnership program of our school with our partners. Taking part of it will look really good in your resume. But no pressure, the decision is all yours. Please answer me within three days so we can make up a schedule or find another candidate.”

In the end, Penny agreed.

She took the file back with her and read all the document very carefully after she came back to her room from the rector’s office. She thought about it again and again, worried that she might fail this job. But when she brought it up to Helen, the other girl just shrugged and said nonchalantly.

“Why not? It will look good on your resume, beside, they pay you 100 for two hours. That a lots.”

Penny thought it made sense and take the offer. They gave her a new schedule. She would go to work at Jupiter elementary school instead of having shifts at the library. She still worked as a librarian, but her shifts were reduced.

Taking a deep breathe, she stepped inside the room full of children from first to fourth grade. She just exchanged some greetings with the principal and the woman was very friendly, which made her a little less anxious. From what Penny known, most children came from rich families(which was quite similar to ESU). While most of them weren’t really spoiled rotten, they could be arrogant as hell.

She gave the children the brightest smile she could manage to have while trying to hide her anxiety.

“Hello! My name is Penelope, Penelope Mary Parker. I will be your STEM club teacher from now on. I hope we will have a great time together!”

The children looked at her curiously while some of them greet her back. Penny quickly realized that most children seemed to shied away from her appearance. Dear lord, she wasn’t screwing this up already right??!

“Let’s start by introducing ourselves to each other, okay? Let’s start with…you!”

She pointed at a boy who sat on the front desk. The boy was caught off guard and stuttered a little bit as he introduced himself. Penny smiled encouragingly and pointed at the next kid who sat behind the boy. The kids took turn to introducing themselves, everything was normal. At least until…

For a second, Penny thought she must be hallucinating or something like that, because why she didn’t notice her from the moment she stepped into the room?!

The girl, who must have been 5 or 6 year old, with brown hair and brown eyes, stood up from her seat to introduce herself to everyone.

“Hello, my name is Morgan Potts. I’m a first grader.”

The child said cheerfully while grinning. Penny was well aware that she was turning paler by second and the report of Karen’s scanning wasn’t helping with that. Her AI seemed to have automatically scanned the girl as soon as Penny looked at her, Karen knew that Penny would want a confirmation.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, gave a small nod to Morgan with a forced smile and continued. She prayed everything holy in this world for Morgan to not know who she was or realized her.

Dear God, her famous Parker’s luck never left her alone right?!!

School was super boring to Morgan. At first she thought she could learn cool things like Penny, but all her lessons were boring. She had to do homework (which was too easy to her) and was supposed to sit still in her seat during her classes. It was boring.

So when her teacher talked about the STEM club, where she could learn cool stuffs in the lab (like her dad! And Penny!), she immediately nagged her mother to sign her up for it.

She had been waiting for nearly a month to finally start joining the club. The club took place in her school lab after school on Wednesday and Friday, so, after her final class ended that day, she immediately walked to the lab.

She sat with a bunch of other children from all grade in her school while humming happily as she waited for her new teacher to arrive. After about 10 minutes or so, she heard someone talked to the principal, who had been standing outside the lab for the whole time. Then the door opened and her new teacher walked in.

Morgan realized who that person was after the first glance.

Her older sister, who was supposed to be missing, was Morgan’s newest teacher! She had blond silky wavy hair, blue eyes and was wearing a yellow cardigan autumn jacket, white shirt with a pair of blue jeans. She looked quite different from all the pictures that Morgan had seen, but her face, there was no way Morgan could have mistaken!

Penny didn’t seem to notice Morgan as she put her bag down and turned back to the class and began to introduce herself as Penelope Mary Parker, their STEM Club teacher.

Question after question appeared inside Morgan’s head as she continued to stare at her teacher.

_Did Penny know that Morgan is studying here? Is that why she choose to become a teacher here?_

_Penny didn’t seem to notice her, is she pretending or really not know Morgan?_

_She looked so pretty! Look at her blond hair! It’s so beautiful! She must have dyed it! But why is she having blue eyes? Penny’s eyes color is supposed to be brown! How could she change its color? It isn’t possible to change your eyes color, right?_

_Why is she having a different name? Is that because she is trying to hide her identity so daddy cannot find her?_

_…is she really Morgan’s sister, Penny?_

Morgan was uncertain if that really was her sister, but the girl knew she would be very sad if that wasn’t her sister. She already felt down just by that thought.

The little girl continued to look at her new teacher very closely, even as she was standing up to introduce herself in front of the club. Morgan could see the way Penny’s face looked paler and paler second by second as she looked at Morgan. Did she realize who Morgan was? Was she really Penny? Is this the proof for it?

Morgan wondered if Penny would address her but instead of it, the young teacher just gave her a small smile (which was a little forced, in Morgan’s opinion) and continued to let the rest of the club introduce themselves.

Morgan noticed that even when the other members of the club were introducing themselves, Penny’s eyes sometimes moved back to look at Morgan, still, it was clear that the new teacher did pay attention to what the kids were saying by the way she memorized names.

After the last kid introduced himself, Penny clapped her hand and said.

“Alright, now, let’s start! Uhm,…do you guys have any question before we start?”

A girl raised her hand.

“Ms. Parker! How old are you? You look really young!”

“I’m 18, dear.”

A boy, who Morgan knew, raised his hand.

“Does that mean you are still in university? My older brother, who is 19, is studying for bachelor degree in Cornell.”

The teenager girl smiled and answered.

“Yes. I’m studying at ESU, that’s why I’m here actually, since it for a project of your school with my school.”

“Woah!”

Some kids whisper-shouted in amazement. Since she didn’t understand why they did that, Morgan tugged the sleeve of the older girl who sat next to her.

“Why did they are acting like that? I don’t understand.”

The older girl whispered back in respond

“It’s because she is studying at ESU. ESU is an Ivy League school, which means she must be really smart to get in. And my dad said that for the STEM club program every year, ESU only sent the best professor to teach us. But they send a student this year so that means she must be a genius!”

“Oh wow.”

Morgan stared at Penny in awe. Daddy used to tell her that Penny was really smart and she was like a genius, this must be another proof that proved her identity!

The young teacher blushed a little at the kids amazement. She then coughed a little and proceeded with their activities.

Parker proved that she was a good teacher. She guided the kids with her soft voice, listened and answered all the questions the children asked her and occasionally cracking jokes to make the kids laugh.

Morgan had so much fun! She made hot air balloon with her new friends, they decorated it with colorful markers and tested how many things that their product could carry. By the end, everyone was grinning widely. Penny gave each of them a small, plastic plant pot and told them to take care of the small plant and take a picture of it every day, so they could see who got the highest plant by the end of the month.

Morgan ended up carrying the hot air balloon back home, which was a bit too challenging for her since she also had to carry the plant pot. The smart little girl came up with a bright idea.

She waited until everyone else was gone and her new teacher had finished cleaning up the lab before walked up to Penny and asked innocently.

“Ms. Parker, can you help me carry this plant pot outside? It’s a bit heavy.”

Morgan could see the surprise on Penny’s face, but the older girl quickly regained her posture. She smiled at Morgan and took the pot from the little girl’s arm as she said.

“Of course.”

They walked out in silence to the front door of the school, where Penny gave back the pot to Morgan.

“Do you need me to help you carry it to the gate?”

“No, it’s fine now. Thank you Ms. Parker.”

“You are welcome.”

Morgan walked to the school gate where she already saw the familiar black car waiting for her in front of the school. The tinted glass window slide down, her uncle gave her a raised eyebrow.

“Hey, kid. You took a bit too long today. Get inside.”

“Hi uncle Happy!”

Morgan cheerfully said as she opened the car door and climbed into the back seat. She was surprised to see her dad sitting there.

“Daddy! You came!”

Her dad smiled gently at her and said.

“It’s been a while since I have last come pick you up, hasn’t it? How was school, little lady?”

Morgan smiled brightly. Her dad seemed to be in a good mood today and she couldn’t wait to tell him about the STEM club, minus the part that her teacher looked exactly like her sister of course. Morgan still need to investigate more about her.

She launched into telling her dad about how fun her club was as her uncle began to drive away from the school while grumbling about traffic.

Tony listened to his little daughter’s rambling attentively, occasionally added some comments or questions. It reminded him of Penny and their old happy time together five years ago, but he didn’t show it, he covered his emotions by smiling at Morgan. Masking his emotions had always been something Tony did daily anyway.

Penny’s anxiety didn’t go away for the rest of the time she spent with the children of the STEM club. With her spider sense, Penny was well aware that Morgan was watching her very closely. The little girl had a gleam in her eyes which resembled Mr. Stark way too much that made Penny felt like her cover was already blown up. But still, she tried her best to finish the job. Mr. Brown had trusted her with this project and she didn’t want to disappoint all the kids that came to this club to learn and still have fun. She was happy that the kids left with wide smile on their faces.

As she cleaned up the lab (there is not much to do, actually), she noticed someone kept staring at her, so she discreetly turned back to see who that was. It was an understatement that Penny’s heart dropped immediately.

Morgan hadn’t left yet. She still stood by the door, watching her worked for the entire 10 minutes Penny spent to clean the lab. The teenage girl tried to remain calm even as she was freaking out inside.

It must be freaking hilarious. Penny Parker, who was once Spider Girl, who had fought aliens, was scared by a freaking five years old girl! But she couldn’t help it! Morgan must have known who she really was! She would go back home and talk to Mr. Stark about this! No more runaway for Penny! Uwahh!

As she finished cleaning and went to lock the door, the little girl walked up to her and asked.

“Ms. Parker, can you help me carry this plant pot outside? It’s a bit heavy.”

Penny was taken back by the simple request. Was that why Morgan stayed back? Maybe the girl really didn’t recognize her. Maybe Penny had thought too much. Hopefully that’s true.

Maybe because she was too desperate in hoping Morgan to not recognize her to see that the plant pot wasn’t all that heavy.

Penny agreed and helped Morgan carrying the pot. They didn’t speak with each other the whole way out. Penny was happy with the silence as she had time to look closer at the girl who was Mr. Stark’s daughter.

Morgan really like her dad, especially with the eyes. Penny could imagine how Mr. Stark’s eyes twinkled as she looked at those chocolate brown eyes. Penny’s heart clenched painfully. If Penny wasn’t gone for the whole five years, would their relationship be different?

Penny wanted to help Morgan carry the pot to the school gate, but she hesitated. It would be risky to do so, as she might be seen by Happy or whoever was going to pick Morgan up. Thankfully, the little girl was fine with carrying the pot to the school gate.

After Penny gave the pot back to Morgan, the little girl walked out of the school. Penny’s gaze followed the child until she climbed into the car.

She let out a small sigh. Meeting Morgan accidentally had never been something Penny expect, and it certainly stirred up more emotions than necessary.

She walked out of the school, started heading to Felicia’s house. The white hair woman had invited Penny over for dinner today and who was she to refuse.

She fished her phone out of her packet to text Felicia, or at least it was what she intend to do. She saw a message from Helen who said that there was some kind of package delivered to her. Penny was surprised since she was certain that she didn’t bought anything or there was anyone who would send her something. She started texting while continued to walk on the pavement, ignoring the lines of car moving slowly on the road because of traffic jam.

If Tony had looked outside, or if Penny had looked up from her phone and paid more attention to the road, they would have seen each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, that's hard.  
> This chapter doesn't contain much emotional stuff as I expected but it was still hard to write. I hope you like it. The next chapter will contain much heavier emotional thing, so, be prepared.  
> Spoiler: the package sent to Penny contain sth very special to Penny, which I have mentioned in chapter 8 or 9 or sth.
> 
> I have always thought I would write sth fluffy for my fanfic since I'm not good with emotional stuffs, but here we go.
> 
> Thank you for reading my work!  
> Pls, pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also very appreciated!


	25. "You must never doubt it"

Penny knocked on the wooden door of Matt’s house as she called out loud.

“It’s Penny!”

There was a reason why she didn’t press the doorbell. Matt often said that only his neighbors, the mailman or any other ‘normal-human-not-vigilant’ did that. When they press the doorbell, Matt was alerted so he could prepare and hide anything ‘not-so-normal’ or ‘vigilant-stuffs-related’ from those people. It was something started when Felicia and Wade started coming to his house since there was no one rude enough to bang on his door and shouted his name other than his ‘coworkers’. Matt told Penny to do that too, even if she found it so impolite.

The door opened swiftly and Felicia stood on the other side of the door, wearing an apron and smiling brightly at Penny as she greeted the girl.

“Penny, you come! I have been waiting for you! Get in, get in, you will catch a cold if you keep standing outside!”

The white haired woman stepped aside to let Penny in and laughed a little as the teenager snorted.

“You are a bit dramatic, you know that? I won’t be able to catch a cold in this weather! It’s only windy a little!”

“But you can’t thermoregulate, you know that! I can’t risk it!”

Penny smiled at Felicia’s worries as they walked into the kitchen.

“Matt said he would be home a bit late tonight, and Wade said he had to pick up something on his way here so he would arrive later.”

Felicia told her as she walked toward the stove, resumed her cooking. Penny furrowed her eyebrows.

“Oh? Should we wait for them?”

The older female just waved her hand and said.

“Oh no, no. We don’t have to do that. We can just start first without them, I’m sure they won’t be that late.”

“Oh, okay. Do you need any help with dinner?”

Felicia smirked at Penny’s question.

“Come here, kiddo. I will teach you how to make the world’s most delicious steak!”

Penny spent the next hour learning how to make garlic butter steaks and potatoes skillet from Felicia. Turned out, the woman really had amazing cooking skills. Penny had eaten foods made by her on several occasions before, but seeing how Felicia cooked really was…mind blowing? (Was that the word?). Let’s just say, the teenager girl was in awe by the time they finished cooking dinner.

They left enough foods for Wade and Matt (which was _a huge amount_ of steaks and potatoes since both of them had crazy metabolism just like Penny) in the pans so when the men came home, they could heat it up easily.

Penny hesitated a bit, she wasn’t sure if they should started dinner before the host arrived, which was Matt, but Felicia just rolled her eyes and said.

“He has already called beforehand to let us know he would be home late. Matt wouldn’t want us to wait for him to start dinner, I know him well enough. Just eat, Penny, or you will starve!”

As she finished talking, Felicia cut her steak and started eating. She knew very clear that Penny wouldn’t be comfortable if she had to start dinner herself, and it was a kind of ‘lead by example’ thingy. Penny still looked uncertain, but the girl also picked up her knife and fork and started eating. As the girl looked down on her dish to cut the steak, Felicia secretly grinned at her.

Penny was amazed with the taste of the steak the moment it touched her tongue. The meat was juicy, and the mixed flavors balanced each other out perfectly. The girl couldn’t help but hummed as she ate the steak. Penny could feel her cheeks burned with embarrassment, but as she saw Felicia’s grinning face, she knew it was worth it.

“So, care to tell me what has been bothering you?”

Felicia asked with a raised eyebrow. At Penny’s surprised face, she huff a laugh.

“You thought I wouldn’t notice your troubled expression the last time when we went out for driving lesson? Penny,…you are like an open book to me.”

Penny put her fork and knife down, her cheeks blushed a little at Felicia’s teasing tone. She nervously bit on her lower lip, and, of course the older woman noticed it right away.

“Penny, honey, you don’t have to worry about anything. If you don’t feel comfortable talking about it, we can just stop and ignore it for now. I promise I won’t push you, okay?”

“No,” Penny shook her head “it’s fine. I just…I’m not sure how to talk about this.”

Felicia leaned forward, “Oh? What is it? Boys problem?”

The teenager girl blushed immediately.

“What?! No, no, no! It’s not like that! I don’t have… I don’t have boys problem!”

The white haired woman laughed at her reaction and Penny realized that the other female was teasing her. She huffed and pouted as Felicia tried to calm down from laughing.

“ Ha ha, laugh it up. Just wait until I start picking on you and Matt.”

“Oh, come on.” Felicia laughed, she tried to weep her tears from laughing to much while reaching out to pinch the girl’s cheek “I’m just kidding. Don’t be mad.”

Penny continued to pout, Felicia finally calm down enough, a smile graced on her lips.

“You looked adorable when you are pouting, Penny. I’m sorry, I will stop teasing you now. Can you talk about what has been in your mind now, honey?”

Penny pursed her lips, she hesitated a little before finally start talking.

“I have talked to Helen, you know, my roommate, the one I have told you about?” Felicia gave her a nod in respond “We…uh, talked about, uh, my situation. Helen noticed some odd things about me, and…”

“Wait,” Felicia cut her off “she doesn’t know you are Spider Girl, right?”

“What? Oh no. I don’t think she know anything about that. It’s just…she noticed that I never talked about my family in front of her, and…, I never called them either.”

“Oh. What did you say to her?”

“Uhm, she actually confronted me about that, asked me if I had any problems with my family. I…gave her a rundown description about my situation, I didn’t mention anything about my identity so you don’t have to worry about it. Uhm…we talked and I think it actually helped me clear my mind a little bit.”

“I see.”

“It’s a much needed talk, I guess… So, I have been thinking about talking about it…with you guys too.”

“Okay,” Felicia straightened herself in her seat “should I call the guys now? Or you want to talk about this with me first before we bring this up to them?”

Penny waved her hands quickly “No need to, we can just talk to them later. I’m sure Matt is still busy right now.”

Felicia bit her lips and decided to not tell Penny that the two men were just trying to give them some privacy so Penny could feel comfortable enough to talk about whatever problem she was having. Oblivious to that, Penny continued.

“I never tell you guys why I ran away, right?”

The older woman immediately tensed up and the room’s atmosphere changed completely. The teenager girl swallowed.

“When I first came back, everything was so unfamiliar, you know. My aunt got married, Mr. Stark had a daughter and had moved out of New York, my friends are both grown up and in college now… it was so strange. I was scared.” Penny fidgeted with her hands as she talked, her voice shook slightly “Back then, I didn’t really realize that I was scared, I just knew that I felt like…I was left out. Everyone changed and they moved on, without me. Of course, I didn’t expect them to not change after entire five years, but…it’s just…they were just so different. I…I didn’t know if…I was even needed here anymore,” Felicia’s eyes widen at that, her mouth parted slightly as if to say something but the girl didn’t notice it “I didn’t know if my existence had any mean to them anymore.”

Felicia grabbed Penny’s shoulder then, the girl stopped talking and looked up, she recognized the emotions were on the other female’s face. There was…fear.

“Penny,…Penny, sweetie,” the white haired woman choked, tears glistening in her grey eyes “how could you think like that? You,…of course you are needed, you are always wanted and loved, honey. You must never doubt it. I have been hoping for five whole years for you to come back. You are…you are so important to me.”

Penny found herself tear up at that moment, when Felicia’s tears rolling on the woman’s cheeks and her eyes reflect a look of desperation…the desperation for Penny to understand what Felicia really meant.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

She cried and buried her face into her hands, she could hear Felicia’s sobbing as the woman stood up for a glass of water. Felicia always drink a glass of water whenever she was in a stressful situation, that was a habit of her than Penny and Matt knew very clearly. After a moment, the white haired woman sat down on the seat right next to Penny, she pried the girl’s hands from her face and gently wiped the tears on Penny’s face before letting Penny buried her face on her shoulder.

Felicia didn’t say anything, she just gently carded her hand through Penny’s hair as the girl cried and talked about what happened.

“I didn’t know why I was like that. I have thought about it again and again, but I still didn’t know why I was so scared. I believed that they always loved me, I knew that they have always been there for me, but I was scared. I was scared that they would change, that they wouldn’t need me anymore. I didn’t want to be their burden.” Penny sobbed into Felicia’s shoulder “I was scared that they wouldn’t need me anymore, they all have new lives now, and they have Morgan, why would they need me? I am a piece of the past that was filled with so much sadness to my aunt May, she would want to forget me, right? And Mr. Stark…I didn’t live up to his expectation as Spider Girl, if I had been better, if I had been stronger, maybe…maybe the blip wouldn’t have happened…”

_Oh, Penny._

Felicia thought as she tightened her grip on Penny’s shoulder. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, Penny didn’t deserve this! Why hadn’t Felicia reached out to her sooner? If she had done it, maybe…maybe Penny wouldn’t have suffered from all those things.

“I…I felt so lonely…like I was forgotten. Sometimes, even as I knew it wasn’t true, it felt like…I was replaced by Morgan. My friend, Helen said I thought I was betrayed, but I don’t really know…”

Felicia listened quietly through Penny’s ramble. Sometimes, it was impossible to hear what the girl was saying because the sound was mixed with sobbing, but the woman never interjected. She listened and felt like her heart was being stabbed over and over again. Penny was hurt and was partially alone all that time, but she wasn’t there to help her.

Felicia was so angry. She was so mad at Penny’s family, because they were there, they were so near Penny but had let the girl suffered like that. Did they even notice Penny’s strange emotional state? Or it had been until it was too late, until Penny had left that they finally realized it? But she was even angrier at herself, because she hadn’t know, because she hadn’t reach out, because she wasn’t there for Penny when the girl need it. If she had done something sooner, maybe, maybe Penny wouldn’t have needed to…

“I still feel so uncertain. I want to talk to them again, but I’m still not sure. What if they are angry because I left? What if they really don’t want me anymore? After what I have done…they…do you think they will…?”

At Penny’s question, Felicia’s heart ached even more, if that was even possible. She gently cupped the girl’s cheek.

“Penny, honey, I know that I don’t know clear enough about your family but…I know that if your family really love you, they won’t love you any less even after this. If they don’t, then they don’t deserve you in the first place. You don’t have to be the person who takes all the responsibility in every situation because I know, in this mess, you are far from the person who are at faults. You acted based on your emotions, like any people would in this case, and that’s fine. If you still aren’t sure about talking to them yet, take a bit more time, it’s alright. You will see that sometimes, time itself is the perfect solution for our problems.”

Penny looked at her as she brushed the girl’s blond hair out of her face. Felicia could see both uncertainty and hope in the girl’s eyes but she again fell in silence.

If Penny’s family really didn’t want her anymore, then the three of them could take the girl in. Felicia was rich enough and Matt was a famous lawyer. They had their ways to make it really happen. Penny would never have to worry about being abandoned because they would never do that to her. Felicia would make sure Penny remember that they would always be on her side.

And Felicia really need to have another talk with Stark.

After a quick text from Felicia, Matt and Wade came back. They were alerted about the situation and at least in some ways, had prepared to hear what Penny had to say. The girl talked while tears still threaten to fall from her eyes, but she didn’t cry until the end, when they all gave her tight hugs. Felicia sat quietly next to her, let her leaned on and interjected a little when she found it hard to keep talking without breaking down.

She didn’t come to the dinner having expected to cry a lot like this. But Penny had to admit that she could finally look at her friends in the eyes without feeling guilty because she was keeping secrets from them.

So yeah, it was nice. It was really nice.

At 9:30 pm, Felicia dropped Penny of at ESU’s dormitory. She had classes tomorrow so it would be more convenient to rest in the dorm.

Before Penny left the car, Felicia had pulled her into a tight hug and murmured quietly,

“I love you.”

It made Penny warm and all gooey inside. Felicia was like…a weird older sister, who was always super protective and caring. Penny had never have an older sister before so she wasn’t sure, but she thought it was close enough.

As she stepped in the dorm room, she found her roommate still awake. Helen was using her smartphone while sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed. Upon seeing her, the girl immediately abandoned whatever work she was having with the smartphone and pointed at a box right next to the door.

“That’s your package. The woman in the front desk of the dorm handed me this when I came back and took the key. Pretty sure it wasn’t a bomb.”

Helen joked. Penny dropped her handbag on her desk before crouched down in front of the box. She paled immediately.

On the box, there was her name, not her fake name, but her real name as in ‘Penny May Parker’. The address was clearly stated that it was sent here, to Penny dorm room.

But the name of the person who sent it…

“Jenny Jefferson…Who’s that? Your friend or something?”

Helen asked and Penny shook her head. She didn’t know anyone got a name like that. Still, Penny opened the package and froze the moment she saw _it._

Her music box.

Penny took it out of the box with shaky hands, the music box was in the perfect condition as she remembered. She almost forgot how to breath as her fingers trailed the pattern on it.

“It has a card.”

Helen said and gave her a piece of blue envelope, something she almost missed as she saw the music.

She opened it and read what was written inside before immediately scrambled up on her feet to find her phone. She dialed a number and waited before she heard a familiar voice.

“Hello?”

“MJ?” Penny breathed, completely shocked.

“…Hey, loser.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I come back!! School year finally ended so it’s time for summer vacation!   
> I will still be busy though. Hopefully, we will have a weekly update or something like that.  
> Kinda hope that you all be surprised by how the story twisted. I wrote this in a hurry while sleep deprived so yeah, sorry for any mistake…….  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> Pls comment to let me know what you think (They are like energy boost)! Kudos are also appreciated!


	26. Meeting old friend.

Penny was running late.

After the short phone call with MJ yesterday night, they decided to meet up at a coffee store. Penny never visited it before, but from the address MJ sent her, it seemed like it was near ESU. However, Penny was running late, and if MJ was anything like before, she wouldn’t be too happy about it.

Penny couldn’t fall asleep, and just kept turning in her bed until late into the night. She almost overslept if Karen didn’t wake her up. Helen had a class early this morning, so she wasn’t there to wake Penny up on time, but the girl did leave the clothes that she help Penny picked out on the bed (it had become one of Helen’s favorite hobbies, picking out clothes for Penny that is “like playing dress up with a doll!”. Honestly, while Penny didn’t mind it one bit, Helen’s obsession with fashion was really alarming.). Penny was grateful for that, since she really didn’t have much time to prepare before leaving.

She grabbed a sandwich from a convenient store on her way to the coffee shop (its taste wasn’t bad, but couldn’t compare with Delmar’s) and ate it while she kept running. It was all thanks to Penny’s spider sense that she didn’t slammed into anyone on her way. She slowed her speed down as she spotted the coffee shop. Penny panting heavily after the run, she walked quickly while trying to calm her racing heart. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the run or because she was so nervous. She threw the paper wrap of the sandwich into the trash can as she looked at the glass window she was passing by to check her hair. Her braid was a little messy, but that’s fine.

Penny took a deep breath before stepping inside the coffee store. It wasn’t really large, at least not as large as the coffee store she was working for, but had a cozy atmosphere. It was…so similar to the tea house MJ once went with her to…five years ago.

She spotted MJ after a few second of looking around. She looked both so…different and similar to the MJ that Penny knew from five years ago. Her hair was short and wavy, curled slightly at the end. She was wearing a pair of glasses with white shirt and black blazer. She was wearing really _neat._ That wasn’t something MJ would do five years ago. She was reading a freaking thick book, which was something gave Penny mental flashback.

“You are late.” MJ said without looking up from her book before raising an eyebrow at Penny and made _the expression._ Damn, that expression didn’t change after five years, did it? Penny felt like she was late for a Decathlon meeting “Are you going to sit down or you will just standing there and stare at me? It’s fine if you want to do that, but I have to say it a little bit creepy.”

Penny immediately sat down on the opposite seat of MJ. Before she could say anything, a smiling waitress already approached them.

“I would like some black tea, please.” MJ said to the waitress before turning back to Penny and quirked an eyebrow “You still like latte with vanilla, right?”

_She still remembered._

That was what flashed through Penny’s mind before she nodded. MJ rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath “Of course you still like that creamy type of drink.” before turning back to the waitress and said “One latte with vanilla for her too.”

The waitress asked them if they wanted to order anything else in which both of them shook their head. As they waited for their drinks to arrive, they fell into silence. Penny almost started biting her lips in nervous before MJ started talking.

“Nice nails.”

She said with a small smile and Penny looked at her nails and blushed a little. Helen painted them for her, it got poached egg pattern on it, quite cute and sweet. Penny didn’t expect MJ to notice that, but it was MJ, maybe she should have thought of it.

“Thank you.” She said awkwardly and they fell into silence once more. Penny tried to think of something to talk about because this type of silence was killing her.

“Uh…your hair looks nice too.”

Penny immediately slapped herself mentally. Couldn’t she think of something else to say?! How could she be so bad at this??

MJ snorted.

“Thank you, loser.” The older girl closed her book and put it into her bag before turned back and look at Penny. Honestly, Penny was feeling like she was being scanned by a x-ray machine.

“You know, for someone who often do dumb stuffs like you,” MJ ignored her friend’s indignant shout ‘Hey!’ and continued “you are not too bad at going undercover either. Although, your new hair and eyes wouldn’t help you much if you really meet someone who knows you. It does look nice though. I mean, I recognized from afar from the first glance.”

Penny opened then closed her mouth repeatedly, not knowing how to phrase her question. Thankfully, the waitress finally brought their drinks out and helped Penny bought another moment to think more about it. They both took a sip before Penny finally asked.

“How did you find me?”

MJ snorted. “Really? You let your friend, Helena Bowman isn’t it, take pictures of you for her fashion project, which she post at least 10 pictures of you on Twitter and Instagram. Her account has thousands of follower, most of them are girls in college and young women, and you actually expected no one to notice anything?...Don’t answer that, I still don’t understand how Stark and the Avengers team hasn’t found you yet.”

Penny’s gaze morphed into a look of horror. Helen, as someone who dreamed to create her own brand of clothing, had been really active in creating new projects related to fashion of her own. Those projects involve quite a lot of taking pictures, dressing up and such. Penny had joined in one of them as a model, her job was quite simple: wearing the dresses that Helen picked out for her and let her take pictures or record short videos. Penny didn’t refuse her friend since she knew Helen was having troubles with finding people and the project was really important to her, so she didn’t refuse.

She never thought it could blow her cover up like that.

MJ dropped a sugar cube into her cup of tea and mix it up, she didn’t even bother hiding her amusement as she kept talking in a teasing tone to Penny.

“Oh, and don’t forget about that picture you posted on your new Twitter account, which has nearly a thousand followers. Also, the fact that you are working for one of the most famous coffeehouse in the entire New York City, which always has a lot of people visit to take a picture to check in because of its nice view, isn’t really helping your situation at all.”

Penny buried her face into her hands and groaned.

“I never thought of that.” A short pause “Please don’t tease me.”

MJ smirked “What? I think you look really beautiful in those dresses. Ever thought about becoming a model?”

That snarky comment earned another groan from Penny, whose ears were completely red by then.

“MJ,” she whined “I told you not to tease me.”

The other girl just laughed out loud. She was totally enjoying Penny’s embarrassment.

“Sure, dork.”

Penny started to relax, maybe this talk wouldn’t be as bad as she had thought. Maybe, it would be just like her chat with Ned, a small talk between old friends.

“So, ESU huh?”

MJ asked casually as Penny took another sip from her latte.

“What? Uh, yeah. I got a scholarship there from a competition.”

“As expected from a nerd like you.” The older girl said “If it wasn’t because of Ned or you didn’t have enough money, I know you could easily enter college early.”

Penny blushed at the compliment. “Thank you. And…uh, how are you doing? I mean, it seems like you already known everything about me, so…”

“Not everything.” MJ said calmly as she put her cup down “Just enough to figure out the most important information that I need. But, well, I’m doing well. I’m gonna graduate from Columbia this year with a degree in Social Sciences and I already have a job as a journalist.”

“Journalist?” Penny quirked an eyebrow at her friend “But you always said that you hate them because they always twist the truth.”

“Yes,” MJ nodded “but they are also the first to receive the newest information, they have a different view to us, and they are the people who know the truth before it is twisted. Information is power, and this is one of the easiest ways to have them before anyone else.”

“…I don’t know how to respond to that.”

The older girl laughed lightly “Then you don’t have to! I didn’t really expect to receive a comment anyway.”

Penny was suddenly hit by a wave of sadness at the sudden realization. Her friend, MJ, who used to never express her emotions, was _laughing._ The older girl seemed to be more comfortable at expressing her feeling. She really did change.

But what made Penny regret was the fact that five years ago, when she hadn’t been snapped, she couldn’t make MJ laugh like this.

“Ned freaked out the last time when he called me, you know.” MJ started talking again “I just came back from my short business trip to Africa when he called, told me that you had gone missing and Tony Stark just called him to ask about you.” Penny’s heart sank “Mr. Stark also called me to ask about you, he actually called me right after Ned ended our phone call, but of course I didn’t know a thing. I’m pretty sure Ned was on the verge of a panic attack when he called me. We were both so shocked and surprised but…we couldn’t do anything.”

They fell into another heavy silence, and this time, it was Penny who broke it.

“Aren’t you gonna ask me why I did…it?”

“I really want to, I’m just restraining myself.”

MJ said as she took another sip from her black tea.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Well, as you can see, I ran away from home.” Penny cleared her throat as MJ quirked her eyebrow in question “Adjusting into my…new life is hard, you know.”

“I know.” MJ nodded “I know. You aren’t the first person to say that after being blipped back.”

“…”

“I brought a lot of money with me so take your time. We could just buy another drink, no problem. And I have a lot of time too, I take a day off today for this, so…please continue.”

So for the next hour, Penny told MJ everything. Unlike when she talked to Helen or the three vigilant, no details were left out. Not a single thing. Penny was surprised that after she finally passed the hesitation, the words just spilled out of her mouth easily. MJ never interrupted her, she kept her face neutral in her famous ‘MJ’s style’ and gave Penny all her attention. Finally, when Penny ended her stories, the older girl mused.

“You aren’t the first person who told me they were being bullied after coming back to Midtown High.” That made Penny’s head shot up immediately “I talked with Cindy and Betty. They also said that they were being bullied, not only by their peers but also their new teachers. It seems like the students who were just blipped back were treated unfairly comparing to the students who weren’t.”

“What? Why?” Penny breathed out, she was completely shocked. She never knew that!

“I’m preparing to write an article about it.” MJ said calmly “Many who weren’t blipped believe that they are the ‘chosen one’, they are all idiots and arrogant assholes to be honest.” the older girl rolled her eyes “People like that believe that they are more important than who were blipped, they believe that they were destined for something great. Most of them are white people from the rich families, which is not a surprising fact. I believe that when this issue is blown up by the media, they will shut up and know their place.”

She stopped as she saw the scared and worrying expression of Penny and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder “Hey, it’s fine. There are only a small amount of people like that, they will realize how stupid they are after a few years at most. No need to worry.”

“Really?”

Penny asked but received no answer. Both of them knew it could take longer than that, and this problem could still be an unsolved problem years after that…just like racism.

It’s just how life works.

“I didn’t notice that Cindy and Betty were bullied too.”

“That’s because you were their main target. Lonely, and standing out with your appearance and intelligence, and never fight back. You became their perfect target just like that. When you are gone, they changed their targets.”

“It’s my fault…”

“It isn’t. It’s the fault of this unfair world where so many privileged dudes believe that they are superior. It’s not your faults.”

“Don’t you think I should have known?”

“You were going through a hard time yourself, Spider Girl or not, you are still a normal human. How could anyone expect something like that from you?”

_Spider Girl…_

That touchy subject that Penny had been trying to ignore…no one had brought it up again until now. Of course Penny knew that there were many people still wondering where Spider Girl was, but Penny ignored all of them.

She couldn’t come back being Spider Girl. She had failed. She couldn’t be a hero, like so many had wanted her to be.

She didn’t deserve their trust.

But the guilt was still there, and there was the urge to just _do something_.

That was the main reason why she even joined the medical team for people in need of New York City as a volunteer. She just couldn’t stop trying to help people, but she couldn’t just coming back to be Spider Girl.

“You know, Mj…” she started talking, but couldn’t look up to meet her friend’s eyes so she kept her eyes on her drink “I didn’t give up Spider Girl because I’m running away. That’s not the real reason. I…I met a woman…she was suicidal, and I have tried to stop her. But she still jumped, she still died, MJ…”

She chocked on her words as she tried to suppress her sobs. MJ didn’t say anything for a moment and when she did, she made Penny look up by putting a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder.

“Penny,…you know that you just…can’t say everyone, right? Even at this moment, there are people somewhere in this world that needs help, but we just can’t reach them. We can’t help them. You can’t help them. We are just humans, not God.”

“But…I was right there. I could have helped her. I could have saved her.”

“Yes. Yes, you could have. But that doesn’t mean she would stop being suicidal, if there was a next time, and you couldn’t be there, she would still choose to jump. It’s life, Penny, sometimes it just…like that.”

“But I could have…”

MJ cut her off again but not unkind “Look, why don’t you look at this in a different way? If you weren’t there, she would have died alone, with no one understand her, no one notice her. It would be so lonely, so painful to die like that. Your presence at that moment, I’m certain that it has offered that woman some kind of comfort, because you were kind enough to care to stop her, to listen to her. You have already helped that woman, Penny. Maybe it isn’t the way you want it to be, but at least, you still helped her.”

_Really? She had helped that woman? Could that be true? Did that mean Spider Girl still worthy of the trust that many people had given her?_

“Penny, you may not know this, but Spider Girl has a bigger meaning than you think. Spider Girl is a symbol of kindness, she inspires people to do more good things everyday life. She isn’t the type of superheroes to only show up when there is something big happens to the world, but she helps people with small things, small things that means much more than you think. That’s why, in many ways, she is already better than the Avengers. She helps people with their ‘normal problems’ daily and shows them that kindness still exist. Spider Girl, you, you means more that you would think.” MJ paused before looking around them and let out a sigh of relief “Thank God that there isn’t anyone pay attention to us and our small talk.”

Penny was still shocked with what MJ said before that she tuned out the last comment.

_Spider Girl meant more than Penny thought._

MJ never lied to her, Penny knew that very clearly. She was always so brutally honest to everyone, not only Penny. But was that what people really think about Spider Girl? Penny never thought about it that way.

“So, about what you said before…” MJ said made Penny snapped back to reality “you said you wanted to talk with your family but was just uncertain?”

Penny nodded and the older girl mused “Why don’t you write a letter then? I can just help you deliver it to them. Tell them how you are doing to reassure them and say that you still need time to think. It’s almost Thanksgiving anyway, since it’s a time for family gathering and it seems like you won’t be joining them this year…” MJ seemed to be hesitated when she said that “you can just send a letter to all of them to wish them a happy Thanksgiving…Gosh, that sounds awkward.”

“A letter?” Penny was still so surprised by the idea that her eyes were wide as she stared at MJ.

“Yeah, a letter. Didn’t you just hear what I said? If you don’t want me to send it, you could just tell someone else to do it for you.”

“Oh, that’s… a nice idea. I will think about it.”

“Yeah, you really should think about it.”

Penny took another sip from her drink and took a deep breath. She was going to ask the question that had been lingered in her head ever since the beginning of this talk.

“MJ, why did you have my music box?”

A short silence filled the air. “Your aunt believed that I should keep it and she insisted on giving it to me, so,…yeah, as you can see, I kept it.”

Penny opened her mouth again to say something but was cut off by the older girl.

“I wouldn’t reveal the details of that talk between your aunt and I, at least not right now, but I must say, being able to keep your music box has great meaning to me.”

Penny fell into silence as she stared at her friend. MJ had such a sad look on her face that made Penny’s heart ached for her, she decided not to push this matter any further.

“If May believed you should keep this, why did you decide to give it back to me? Why…”

“You are here, I don’t need it anymore.”

_Because you are here, that’s why._

MJ smiled at her as she stood up “Let’s go, shall we?”

Both of them left the shop after they finished paying for their drinks.

“I have already called a taxi. Are you going to walk back to ESU? I know it’s close to here but if you want I can just…”

“Oh, no, no. It’s fine, honestly.”

Penny politely refused MJ’s invitation to give her a lift. As they were going to part away, MJ suddenly said.

“Ned and I, we never forget you. We moved on with life but we never forget you. If you need us, just call, okay?”

Penny looked at MJ with surprise at first, but she quickly smiled back and said.

“Okay. Bye, MJ”

“Bye, loser. See you soon.”

“See you soon.”

They waved at each other for the last time before the older girl entered her taxi. As Penny was walking back to her school, she spotted Felicia and Matt, who were just exiting a jewelry store. The girl smiled excitedly as she approached them, already planned to tease the two.

“Felicia, Matt!”

The girl called as she was running toward her friends. They immediately turned back and Felicia smiled when she saw Penny.

“Penny! What are you doing here? You don’t have class?”

“No, I don’t. What are you doing here? I thought Matt had works to do as a lawyer this morning, not going out to pick a ring with his girlfriend.”

Felicia glared half-heartedly at Penny as she smacked the girl lightly in the arm.

“The sass! What have I done to deserve this kind of treatment from you, huh, Penny?”

The girl laughed. Matt let out a small chuckled as the woman’s expression softened.

“It’s not a ring. We aren’t there yet.”

“Uh huh, sure, sure. Whatever you say, Matt.”

Felicia smiled as she pulled Penny closer to her.

“If I ever get married, you will have to be my bridesmaid, Penny.”

“Of course.”

Suddenly, as he seemed to remember something, Matt touched his girlfriend lightly on the shoulder. Felicia turned back, looked at him questionably and they exchanged meaningful glance with each other.

“So, Penny, we have something that we must tell you.”

Matt said to the girl who looked puzzled. Felicia continued as she pulled Penny even closer to her, her grip on the girl’s shoulder tightened slightly.

“We…had a talk with a certain super spy about two weeks ago…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> I want to thanks you all for all your comments and kudos, and hits too! I read all of them but currently I'm too busy to answer all of it. Have a lot of homework and all that. Sorry, and thank you!
> 
> Pls comment to let me know what you think! Kudos are also very appreciated!
> 
> Anyone would like a chapter of MJ's flashback or sth like that?


	27. This...isn't how her second meeting with Morgan should go (at least in Penny's opinion)

_This is so crazy._

Actually, that might be the biggest understatement in the history…at least to Penny at that moment anyway.

She was planning to meet the fucking Natasha Romanoff!! How the hell could she meet that freaking super (awesome) spy and then leave without being trailed after??

The whole mess began from the talk between her, Felicia and Matt a few days ago. The two vigilant told her about their ‘little chat’ with the woman, why and how it had happened without her knowledge before giving her their apologizes. Penny wasn’t happy about that, like, at all. But upon seeing their guilty expressions and their reasons, the girl couldn’t really blame them. She understood why they had done that, it was all for her sake.

Honestly, Penny was quite proud that she had managed to dodge the Avengers that long. It had been…what? Five months or so? Anyway, the other members of the team hadn’t found her yet, so that’s good. And you have to admit it, being found out by the greatest superspy sounds freaking cool! Okay, that’s just sound nerdy.

The teenage girl really didn’t want to meet Natasha (even though she was her idol and in any other circumstance, she would be eager to have a chance to talk to the woman), but she knew she should. Or rather, she had to. Based on what she knew about Natasha, Penny guessed that the spy wouldn’t give up on trying to reach out for Penny no matter what, so it would be better if the girl agree to talk to her at least one time.

She still hadn’t figured out how to contact Natasha, and how to leave after their talk (if she could manage to meet the woman) without being followed. Penny didn’t want her to know about her current address, it’s dangerous.

And the letter too.

Dear lord, she didn’t really know what to write. She had tried, she really did, but man, it was hard.

What should she say in it?

Penny didn’t know. Whenever she reread the letter after finished writing it, Penny would find it so…so unfit. Then she would tear the paper and throw it into the trash can before trying to rewrite it again.

And then, there was this emotional exhaustion. The girl thought a lot about what she wanted to put into this letter and then she would be drowned in the mix of her own emotions and thoughts. It honestly gave Penny an unsettling feeling that kept her away from her sleep at night.

Penny sighed and tried to push away all those thought to focus on her current task.

She was going to talk with the principal of Morgan’s school, uh, Jupiter Elementary School. The little girl’s name would also sometimes appear in Penny’s head, which bothered her a lot during the last few days.

The reason why Penny came here wasn’t about Morgan, it wasn’t even all that important. The girl could just send an email and wait for response, but better safe than sorry. Penny had to ask for permission to use the chemicals during the next STEM club meeting. It was nothing dangerous, per se, just for the elephant toothpaste experiment, but it still concern the children’s safety.

As she walked across the yard toward the school building, Penny saw a commotion. A bunch of kids surrounded something, they were chatting, no, _commenting_ loudly, and some of them were having smartphones to record whatever incident was happening.

Penny quickly approached the kids. An unexplainable unsettling feeling appeared as she walked faster and faster toward the small crowd. She tried to walk pass all the kids without hurting them or snapping at them, and what she saw made she freeze.

It was during the recess that Morgan finally decided to interfere.

She was playing hopscotch with some of the girls in her grade when she noticed a small crowd was gathering in a circle near them. They were quite loud and some of them were even holding their phones, which was quite weird. Out of curiosity, the little girl approached them. She tried to get a look at what was happening and she was both shocked and angry at the scene in front of her eyes.

A boy, Tommy, who also joined the STEM club along with Morgan was lying on the ground. He was crying loudly as he tried to curl himself into a ball, dirt covered his hair and clothes. A older boy, who Morgan was pretty sure names Jack, was standing right beside him, laughing loudly as he sneered.

“Oh oh, you cry baby! Cannot even hit back huh? How pathetic!”

Morgan was so angry as she heard that. She had noticed Jack’s tendency to bully anyone who was weaker than him as she walked pass him in the school hallway but she was stopped by some of her friends. Her friends told her all about the bully and advised her not to cross his part. They were all scared of him.

But Morgan did not.

As she witnessed more bullying action and heard more stories about Jack, she grew more and more angry. Her mommy told her not to fight at school if she wasn’t being attacked physically, and if she could, she must told her parents instead of starting a fight. “Trying your best to avoid fighting” that’s what her mother said. However, that didn’t stop Morgan from wanting to stop the bully by any means, even if she had to punch him in the face. She knew how to punch, aunty Nat had already taught her.

Morgan was hesitate, she could only fight if it was for self-defense. And fighting was bad too, what should she do?

But then, Jack decided to kick Tommy another times in the stomach. No one did anything other than watching and there was no teacher either.

Morgan’s blood boiled and she pushed pass the crowd to stand in front of the bully.

“Hey!” she shouted “Stop it! You must stop hitting Tommy!”

Jack laughed at her mockingly and the brat sneered.

“Aww, how sweet of you! You think you can save your little friend here, huh? You are such a stupid girl.”

With each word, Morgan grew more and more angry. But before she could talk back at him, the bully turned around and kicked Tommy again.

“What do you think you can do to stop me huh? Calling tea-”

Before Morgan could think twice to stop herself, her body already acted on its own.

She heard someone shouted her name as she swung her fist at the bully, but she couldn’t stop now. Her hand made contact with Jack’s face, and it really hurt more than she had thought. She saw the bully clutched his face in pain but only for a short moment.

Jack gritted his teeth, growled angrily as he stumbled on his feet, trying to regain his balance.

“You bitch! You--”

The brat raised his hand to hit Morgan and for a brief moment, the little girl thought she was going to be hurt by the bully. But then, all she saw was a flash of blue denim jacket, no pain.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!”

Ms. Parker, who Morgan was pretty certain that she was her missing older sister at that point, was standing protectively with her back facing Morgan and her hand holding the bully’s wrist firmly.

…what was the word that his dad told her not to say in front of mom? Oh, right.

…shit.

Penny never thought this would be how she had her second meeting with Morgan.

The girl was having a fight with a boy who was at least twice her size and said boy was going to hit the little girl back after being punched in the face.

Oh dear lord.

She couldn’t stop Morgan from hitting the presumed bully, but Penny was so glad that she managed to stop the brat from hurting the girl just in time. So fucking glad that she thought she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

“Watch your mouth! And don’t even think about doing anything on my watch! You hear me?!”

The boy scowled as he pulled his wrist out of Penny’s grip. Thanks God for her wonderful self-restrain, because she was second away from wanting to give the boy a good slap.

Penny turned around to check on Morgan. She seemed to be fine, completely unscathed, but she was staring at Penny with wide eyes and her face was showing a shocked and panicked expression. Huh? Was that…guilty that Penny saw?

Oh well, she supposed that the little girl should feel guilty. She just punched a boy across the face after all, even if said boy was a jackass or not.

Penny sighed and moved on to do the next task. She looked around and realized that the small crowd of kids was all staring at her. Dear lord, she wasn’t cut out to any of this.

The teenager girl waved two boys who were hovering near by so they would come near her.

“You two,” she pointed to the little boy lying on the ground, crying softly “take him to the nurse. Tell her to check his stomach carefully. If she had any question about what has happened, answer it honestly okay?”

The two boys nodded and immediately went to the poor boy and tried to help him stand up. Penny told the little boy as he was half being carried away to the nurse. Her voice’s soft and reassuring.

“It’s all gonna be fine, dear. I will call your parents and we will handle this okay?”

The poor boy nodded as he tried to suppress his sobs.

The little jerk scoffed as he watched his victim being carried away and disappeared into the school building.

“How pathetic he is! Couldn’t even fight back—”

Penny snapped.

“Watch your tongue! We will go to the principal’s office right now and call your parents! Let’s see how they will react once they find out what you have done!”

“You think I’m scared? My parent’s company is big, we are rich enough to buy this entire fucking school!”

Penny stood up from crouching in front of Morgan. She grabbed both Jack and Morgan’s hand (although her grip was much lighter with Morgan) and walked toward the school building, effectively made the two kids followed her.

“You will be really surprised to know that there are a lot of people out there who can buy your parent’s company.”

She growled through her gritted teeth. This brat’s attitude really made her furious.

She led both of them to the principal’s office and told the secretary to inform the woman that they were having a situation.

The secretary was quick to come out again, telling her that the principal invited her to come in her office. Penny walked into the office, completely ignored the brat’s effort in trying to wiggle his hand out of her grip. She wasn’t gripping his tightly enough that it would leave bruise, but it was certainly firm.

Mrs. Blake, a respectable woman who was in her late forties, also the principal of Jupiter elementary school, was calm and collected. Only ever showing a frown when Penny told her there was no teacher on the school ground when the incident happened. She effectively shut the little brat up when he was going to throw a tantrum. After listening to Penny’s side of story and watching the video of the incident recorded from a student’s phone (which Karen easily hacked to take the video for Penny), it looked like she already made a decision, even if the parents hadn’t even come yet.

“We have already called your guardians, they will come here soon. Both of you please follow miss secretary and sit outside as you wait for your guardians to come.”

The children complied and left the room. Mrs. Blake turned to Penny and sighed.

“I’m so sorry for bothering you. I know that you don’t have the obligation to handle this mess, but I’m really grateful that you have appeared in time to stop this. I will investigate to see why there was no teacher on the school ground since we always have at least two during the recess.”

“It’s alright. I’m glad that I can help.”

“May I ask what brought you here in the first place?”

Penny was suddenly reminded about the reason she came to the elementary school and she proceeded to inform the principal about her problem. After listening to Penny attentively, the older woman nodded.

“I see. Let me tell the secretary to prepare a form for you to sign. All the students have signed a waiver before officially joined the club so it should be fine. Please wait for us about half an hour or so, we will give you the form right away.”

“Thank you.”

Mrs. Blake called in the secretary and told her to prepare the necessary documents related to the current situation with the STEM club for Penny. The teenager girl standing awkwardly near the principal’s desk as the two older women talked. When the secretary left the room, Penny hesitantly asked Mrs. Blake.

“Uhm,…about the fight…” the older woman turned her attention back to Penny “have you decide on what will be the, uh, punishment?”

Mrs. Blake sighed.

“I’m thinking about suspension to both of the kids. However, in Morgan’s case, I think only a day of suspension and a week of detention after school. Normally, fighting the first time will result in a three-day suspension, but I guess I will let it slip this time.”

“Then what about the boy?”

“…we will have to wait and see the reaction from other parents. This isn’t the first time he has done this.”

Wait, wait. What?

“He’s an exceptional case since his parents are too rich. We cannot exactly do anything since they are on the school board. I hope this time it will be different.”

“…So, you mean he been doing this for a long time but was tolerated since his parents are rich?”

“Yes. I told them many times that they have to do something about their son’s attitude, but the mother never listened. All she has done was fired a teacher who gave her son a week of detention and threaten us to take away all the money she has donated to the school. I also heard that she even called to threat some parents whose child was bullied by her son so they wouldn’t dare do anything.”

Jesus. Was there really that type of parent? No wonder the boy turn out to be like that.

Penny then left the room after her short talk with the principal. She decided to go out and buy something to drink or eat while she had to wait for the necessary documents. On her way out, she noticed the two kids sitting on the plastic chairs against the wall of hallway. While the boy just scowled as he saw her, Morgan immediately perked up, her gaze followed Penny as she walked pass her.

She looked sad and guilty. The little girl actually looked down in shame when their eyes met.

It made Penny extremely uncomfortable. Okay, no. It actually made Penny feel down.

So the teenager girl decided to change her mind a bit and made a plan inside her head in the matter of a second. She quickly left the school to go to a convenience store nearby.

She only left for like ten minutes, top. But apparently, it was a little too long.

As she was heading back to the Jupiter school principal’s office direction, she heard a voice of a woman shouting. Without her super hearing, she could never hear it from this far, but she had, and it made her quickened her pace. She practically ran when she saw the door of the office: it was opening slightly and the shouting was getting more and more aggressive, the secretary was standing outside of the door, shaking slightly. Her face was a little pale and her expression screamed something, whatever it was, it was bad. And both Morgan and the brat was nowhere to be seen.

She put her small groceries bag on the secretary’s desk, muttering a small “Excuse me” to the woman as she ran pass her and threw the door open.

Everyone in the room immediately look at her.

Outside of the brat, Morgan and Mrs. Blake, there were two other adult, one male and one female. Based on their expression and facial features, they must be the brat’s parents. The presumed mother of the brat was looking really angry and it looked like she was trying to grab Morgan from where she was hiding behind Mrs. Blake.

The poor little girl was frowning, she was obviously displeased by the current situation. And she looked scared. She practically ran into Penny’s arms before hiding behind her the moment she saw the teenager girl.

That really made Penny’s blood boil.

“YOU!” the woman pointed a finger at Penny’s face and took a step forward threateningly, well, Penny wasn’t fazed by it at all anyway “ARE YOU THIS WENCH’S MOTHER?!!”

What. The. Fuck??

“Excuse me! What did you just call Morgan??!”

Penny asked with disbelief. Her eyes met Mrs. Blake’s and the woman was wearing an exasperated expression on her face, it was clear that this wasn’t the first time she had to deal with this kind if situation.

“I JUST CALLED HER A WENCH! SO WHAT?! HOW DARE HER LAY A HAND ON MY SON?!”

“Have you seen the recording? Because your son—”

Penny tried her best to reason with the mad woman calmly but was cut off.

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT IT! MY SON DIDN’T START THE FIGHT WITH HER! WHATEVER HAS HAPPENED IN THE FIRST PLACE ISN’T RELATED TO THAT WENCH! HOW DARE SHE HIT MY SON??! HOW CAN YOU BITCH EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO DEFEND THAT WENCH, HUH?!”

The woman (no, she was a real bitch) roared with anger laced in her voice with each word she spitted out. While she did that, she also tried to grab Morgan again, but failed as the girl hid herself behind Penny.

Seeing the little girl had to suffered through unreasonable harassment and insults that the woman was spitting out of her vulgar mouth and the way she shook slightly with fear as she hiding behind Penny made the teenage girl’s anger flared up.

Her blood was _boiling_.

Penny was only a second away from snapping at this woman and roasted her, but…

The girl took a deep breath and started thinking. She couldn’t lose her cool right now, engaging in this kind of argument would only waste her time and energy. On the other hand, her priority right now was to take Morgan out of this room, far away from this woman’s wrath. What was the fastest way to end this conversation?

_How?_

As Penny Parker, she often had to silently endure through harassment as a victim of bullying. However, as Spider Girl, she took care of everything with confident and witty remark, it was like her trademark.

She said she would give up on Spider Girl, but did she really have to handle this mess in Penny’s style?

_No way._

“Do you have enough toothpaste or maybe soap at home?” Penny suddenly asked the woman, her tone was light. Before the brat’s mother could even understand what she meant, the teenager already continued “I only asked that because, you see, from how you were, uh…, ‘spitting’ out your words, I think you really had a dirty mouth.”

Both the brat’s parents eyes widen in shock, they obviously had never been insulted like that before. Penny smirked at them and quirked up an eyebrow (just like how she had seen her mentor had done to many other annoying people).

“It’s not a wonder why your son behave this way. One just need to look at you, his mother, to see the reason.”

“WATCH YOUR MOUTH! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO MY WIFE THAT WAY?! YOU ARE A STAFF OF THIS SCHOOL RIGHT? I CAN EASILY MAKE YOU LOSE YOUR JOB!”

Penny chuckled drily. These types of people, they are just like clowns.

“I’m glad you have enough brain cells to recognize that I’m not Morgan’s mother. I mean, it’s quite obvious, I’m really young. It’s a wonder how could your wife even mistaken me as her mother.”

Penny turned away from the still spluttering couple to look at Mrs. Blake. The woman’s expression was neutral, but if one looked closely, they could see a glint of amusement.

“I will take Morgan outside to wait for her parents to arrive. Morgan is smart, but I’m afraid staying in the same room with people who lack brain cell like Jack’s mother for too long may make her less intelligent.”

Mrs. Blake nodded her head and gestured her to go ahead. Penny held Morgan’s hand in hers as she both of them walked out, leaving behind Mrs. Blake and the brat’s family. A small smirk graced her feature as Penny heard the angry shouting of the couple.

The secretary looked at her with wide eyes as Penny took her groceries bag back from the older woman’s desk.

“Can I take Morgan out to the school ground? We will only sit on the bench right out there and you can still see us from your desk.”

Penny asked the still dazed secretary who could only nodded as an answer.

The teenager led Morgan outside. The little girl was obviously surprised, but she followed Penny silently as they walked.

After they settled down on the bench, Penny took out an ice cream tub with a plastic spoon and gave them to Morgan. The girl hesitantly took it.

“Uh, what is this?”

“Ice cream tub. It has chocolate and vanilla flavor. What? You don’t like it?”

“But why?”

“Well, it’s a reward for what you have done.”

Morgan’s mouth opened so wide that made Penny worried she would dislocate her jaw. She made such a hilarious expression that the older girl had to tried and stiff a laugh.

“Just for clarification, I don’t encourage violence at all. However, your action to stand up against a bully to defend your friend is honorable. You are very brave to do that. You should be proud of yourself.”

Morgan’s brown doe eyes stared at her. Her look actually gave her a weird feeling, because it had a little too much awe in it.

“Yeah,” Penny nodded and held out her pinky finger to Morgan “just promise me this: if this kind of thing happens again, go get one of your teachers, okay? Violence must be used as last resort. The next time, use that smart head of yours, it will help you avoid a large amount of trouble.”

“I promise.”

Morgan said heartily as she wrapped her own pinky finger around Penny’s. The older girl smiled.

After that, they sat together on the bench as Morgan ate her ice cream. Penny only bought a bottle of mineral water for herself so she took it out of the bag and gulped down some water. She was thirsty anyway.

But Morgan seemed to mind the fact that Penny didn’t have ice cream a little too much.

She tried to give Penny at least a spoonful of ice cream and while the older girl tried her best to refuse, Morgan was much more stubborn. Finally, Penny gave in and let Morgan stand up beside her on the bench and gave her some ice cream. The girl smiled so brightly that Penny couldn’t really say anything about it. That’s why, she only said

“Morgan, you shouldn’t share your foods or drinks that you are eating with strangers. I mean, it’s fine to help people in need but—”

“But you are not stranger.”

Morgan interjected. Penny got a chilling feeling as she noticed there was this strange gleam in Morgan’s eyes as the little girl said that. She meant something more.

That reminded Penny…what was she doing?? Why was she here with Morgan after coming to the conclusion that she should avoid the little girl after their first meeting?? OMG, was she losing her mind?!

Before Penny could be panicked by her spiraling thoughts, her phone rang, notified her that she got a new text. It was from Karen.

_Penny, Mr. Rhode and Ms. Romanoff are near here. ETA: 10 minutes._

_What about Mr. Stark? And Mrs. Stark too??_

_Mrs. Stark is still in DC. Mr. Stark is currently stuck in a business meeting but he would meet Morgan and his friends in a shop on their way back the Tower._

_Got it._

Penny stood up and asked Morgan.

“Have you finished your ice cream?”

The little girl swallowed her last bite before showing Penny her empty ice cream tub. The teenager told Morgan to throw the trash into a trash can nearby and when Morgan returned, Penny gently wiped her mouth with a napkin. Morgan grinned and grabbed Penny’s hand before heading toward the school building, dragged Penny with her.

The teenager girl followed easily. When they arrived in front of the principal’s office, the secretary gave Penny a stack of newly printed documents that she needed. Penny bid Morgan goodbye and was turning around to leave since she was in a rush when she remembered something.

She turned back and crouched down in front of Morgan.

“Hey, later, I want you to apologize to that brat, okay?”

“But why??!”

Morgan was clearly outraged at that request but Penny gently shushed her and explained.

“Because that will prove that you are much better than him, especially since I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t do the same anyway.”

“Okay.”

Morgan agreed even though she was pouting.

Penny left the school with a different part, she worried that she might be seen by the adults who came for Morgan. As she was crossing the street, she saw it.

A black expensive car with a red haired woman sat inside, it was Natasha Romanoff. There was no one else with her. Suddenly, a crazy idea came to Penny’s mind.

She walked straight to the car, and knocked on the window.

“Hi. I heard that you wanted to talk to me, got some time?”

Their talk was surprisingly short, it only took 15 minutes. They talked inside the car so when Penny walked outside, she was completely caught off guard.

“Penny?”

She was thinking too hard about her previous conversation with Ms. Romanoff that she didn’t sense his presence. Standing there, only a few meters away from Penny, with a hand holding Morgan’s, was James “Rhodey” Rhode.

_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for updating late. I’m a bit stuck so it took longer than it should. We will have the next chapter soon!  
> My country just went into “special mode” (Dong Lao) again because of Covid 19. I hope you guys are doing well.
> 
> Does anyone curious about the conversation between Nat and Penny or the encounter between Rhodey and Penny?!
> 
> Hope you enjoy this! See you soon!
> 
> Please give me your comment!! It’s the superior energy that keeps me writing this even when I’m sleep deprived!! Or kudos! I love it too!!  
> Love you guys!


	28. An...encounter

_Shit._

_Shitshitshitshitshit._

Penelope Mary Parker is officially fucked. And that was an understatement.

Penny’s eyes never left Rhodey and from the corner of her eyes, she saw Natasha climbed out of the car. The colonel took a step toward Penny and the girl automatically took a step back. Rhodey stared at her, like he was calculating, probably trying to make sure that the girl wouldn’t slip from his grasp.

The next thing Penny did…was turning around and running away as fast as she could, like any other normal human being would act in her situation, she faintly heard Rhodey’s shouting her name and telling Natasha to “look after Morgan” but didn’t dare to look back. She was determent to get away as far as possible even when she didn’t know where she was heading to.

She ran like a mad man, no, in this case, it should be a mad girl, on the street, dodging people who were on her way or mumbled out a small “sorry” or “excuse me” if she accidentally bumped into someone. The distance between Rhodey and Penny was getting longer and longer, it wasn’t really a surprising fact since Penny got super agility from her spider gen and Rhodey’s legs were…ya know.

But before she could let out a sigh of relief, Rhodey let out a small grumble that she almost missed even with her super hearing.

“Oh no no, I won’t let you slip away just like that.”

She turned her head around to look behind and went pale almost immediately. Rhodey took out a small metallic device and put it on his chest before tapping three times on it (author: I wonder why that gave me Power Ranger vibe?). The War Machine suit formed around Rhodey’s body even when he was still running after Penny. He started flying after her as soon as he could use the suit’s rocket booster.

Penny cursed her damned Parker’s luck as she tapped on her watch to activate Karen’s voice communicating system. Dear God, people who witnessed this must have thought she was some kind of wanted criminal!

“Karen! DO SOMETHING!”

Penny shouted to her AI, desperately wanted to escape from the current situation. The colonel was getting closer and closer.

“Uh,…like what Penny?”

“I don’t know! Just…ANYTHING!”

“Do you want me to hack into FRIDAY?”

Penny made an abrupt turn into an alleyway, barely missed Rhodey’s grasp. The man cursed as he turned around and chased after Penny one more time. The girl was almost out of breath as she answered Karen.

“Will…will that help me with this…situation?”

“…Maybe? I mean I can try to do that but if you have any better idea…”

“Just fucking DO it!”

Later she would scold herself for snapping at Karen, but at that moment, Penny was stressing out at being chased by a goddamn military man wearing a super suit. She tripped and almost fell when Karen’s voice appeared again.

“ **Activate Backdoor Protocol?** ”

“Con—confirm.”

“…Access granted. Please give me ten seconds.”

“What?! That’s too long! I will be--”

But before Penny could get out any other words to Karen, her shoulder was caught from behind a little too forcefully by a metal hand. Based on how the man winced and mumbled a small ‘sorry’, it seemed like he didn’t intend to make her hurt.

Rhodey used his hand on Penny’s shoulder to make her turn around. The teenager could feel that her face getting paler and paler as she facing the colonel directly. The faceplate opened up revealed the face of James “Rhodey” Rhode, who was looking both shocked and _happy_.

_Happy…_

“Oh my God, it’s really you!”

Rhodey exclaimed happily. He looked so relieved that made the girl freeze on the spot. But before the man could utter another word out, suddenly his suit’s faceplate closed down. He could only get out a starled “Wha…?” before the suit automatically turned away and flew onto the sky.

Penny was left behind on the spot, still shaking a little as she asked.

“Karen? Is that what you did?”

“Yes. I hacked into his suit through FRIDAY and control it. He is now heading toward Stark Tower.”

“He will be okay, right?”

“Certainly. However, you should probably leave here as soon as you can since I think he will try to come back and find you.”

“…Right.”

She started leaving the alleyway and found herself blushing furiously as she was surrounded by a bunch of curious people. They started asking question after question.

“Why did War Machine chase you?”

“Are you a criminal?”

“Why did he leave so sudden?”

“Wh—?”

“It’s just a misunderstanding. He mistaken me for someone he knows, it seems. There is nothing to worry about. Please excuse me.”

She tried to answer the crowd as fast as possible as she saw many other was heading her way. As soon as she escaped the small crowd, Penny practically flee from there and ran straight back to her room at ESU. She ran as fast as she could, didn’t even dare to slow down or look back until she finally got inside her room.

She flopped down on her soft bed and groaned as she experienced an adrenaline crash. Her body ached and exhausted after a long time having not exercised that much. At that moment, all she wanted was going to a convenience store nearby, grabbing some sandwich and water before going straight to sleep. Ugh, that’s sound so nice.

But Penny got up and took out her laptop, turned it on the started opening the hacking program.

“Let’s get to work.”

She muttered to herself.

Rhodey wasn’t having a nice day.

He had a meeting last for more than three hours with some old, grumpy politicians who were siding with Ross. They wanted to reinforce the Sokovia Accord once more after everything looked like it was started to settle down a bit. Hell no.

Most people nowadays preferred maintaining the Avengers team rather than trying to enforce something that potentially could break up the superheroes, everyone knew what had happened the last time they did that. Thanos. The blip. That’s why he wasn’t having a hard time making his point clear, however, negotiating with them was tiring.

He was going to have a nice, relaxing bath at his apartment when his phone rang. His best friend, Tony was stuck in a meeting and Pepper was away, the problem was Morgan’s school just called. The girl got into a fight at school and needed at least one of her guardians to pick her up. Happy was going out with May for a therapist sessions so they couldn’t contact him. That left only Rhodey.

He didn’t really mind of course, this was his niece that they’re talking about.

So he pushed his intention to have a bath aside and went to Morgan’s school. Natasha was nice enough to give him a lift since she was nearby.

He went to the principal’s office and met another pair of parents who was checking a crying little boy in front of the secretary’s desk. For a second, he thought that maybe his niece had hit the boy, but then that was not like her at all. She was a bit tricky but still a nice kid nevertheless. She wouldn’t bully her peers.

As the secretary finally noticed his appearance, Rhodey introduced himself as Morgan’s guardian. The woman quickly checked Morgan’s emergency contact list to confirm his identity. After that she explained the situation mildly. Apparently, his niece tried to stand up for the poor crying boy that he just met and hit the bully in the face in the process. Luckily enough, Morgan’s STEM club teacher was just passing by and prevented the incident from escalating any further. They also got the video recording of the incident and a lot of witness, so Morgan wouldn’t be in a lot troubles.

Damn. Like father like daughter, he guessed.

After the secretary informed the people in the room of his arrival, Rhodey walked inside the principal’s office. He met face to face with a pair of parents, their (presumed) child, the principal and Morgan.

The couple and their child looked really mad. The wife especially, she was spilling some seriously vulgar words that could make a sailor blushed, and of course, they weren’t kids friendly at all. The husband was scowling and the boy looked like he was going to hit someone. And all of this behavior seemed to be toward Morgan, who was hiding behind the principal’s back. The little girl didn’t look like she was afraid, scared or angry, instead she had a stubborn look on her face that resembled Tony a little too much.

When the people in the room notice Rhodey’s appearance, the only one who gave him a friendly smile was the principal. Even as she was facing with a definitely troublesome situation, Mrs. Blake didn’t seem to be fazed at all. As Morgan left the older woman’s side to come to stand next to Rhodey, the principal greeted him with a friendly tone of voice.

“I’m glad that you have finally be able to join us in our little discussion today, Mr. Rhodey. I promise that this won’t take too long. Please have a seat so we can start.”

The boy’s family all narrowed their eyes at him, but to Rhodey’s surprise, the mother actually stopped shouting and they all sat down on the seats that the principal offered them (he wondered why they were all standing when he came since the chair were there the whole time). However, he heard the husband muttered something suspicious like “nigga” under his breath.

The principal started talking.

“I’m sure that my secretary has already told you all about the situation, however, since we have a video recorded the whole situation by witness, I think it’s best to watch it. Mr. Rhodey, since you are the only one here who hasn’t seen the video, I will send it to your phone right now.”

As Rhodey thanked her, the mother of the boy seemed like she wanted to disagree with Mrs. Blake’s offer, however, she was stopped by her own husband. He watched the whole video, starting from when the boy who he saw in front of the principal’s office was shoved to the ground by another boy who was literally sitting five feet away from him right now, until Morgan punched the bully and the video ended. Wow, like father like daughter, he guessed.

“Our STEM club teacher accidentally passed by and stopped the situation right after that and helped solving the problem. She and some other students who was there claimed that Jack” the principal gave the brat a pointed look “tried to hit Morgan back after that but was stopped in time by Ms. Parker. Morgan luckily didn’t suffer from any injury.”

“Good for her.”

Rhodey heard the mother of the brat said bitterly but didn’t say anything back immediately. Instead he asked.

“Who is this Ms. Parker exactly? Is she someone who was supposed to be on the school ground even before this fight started?”

Mrs. Blake shook her head immediately.

“No, no, no. Ms. Parker is indeed our current STEM club teacher, but she isn’t involving in any other stuff related to my school. She only came here today for a legal matter. However, I must admit that the two teachers that were assigned on school ground duty have failed their jobs. They left their position which has led to this incident. That’s why, the discipline given to Morgan will be lightened.”

“Excuse me?!” the other woman jumped in, Rhodey could easily see the anger in her expression “What about my son? He was punched in the face by this b—this girl!”

“I have to agree with my wife with this one.” The husband nodded his head “My son should be the one who can receive that type of treatment, since he was the one who had to suffer.”

Oh gosh, Rhodey didn’t think that he would be able to continue restraining himself when he had to sit in the same room with this type of people. Looking at the brat who was now smirking at Morgan from his seat between his parents made the colonel realize how much parents can affect their child’s behavior. The brat was like this obviously because of his parents, who were jerks themselves. Thankfully, before Rhodey could say something ‘rude’ to their faces, Mrs. Blake already replied.

“Morgan’s action was to defend her peers, while she did use violence, it was for good cause. This is also her first time making this type of mistakes so we will only give punishment as a warning. However, with your son, this isn’t the first time this kind of incident was reported to the office. His punishment will be determined after we meet Tommy’s parents, your son’s _victim_.”

The principal emphasized on the last word, completely ignore the scowl she received from the pair of disapproving parents. Mrs. Blake then turned back to Morgan and Rhodey.

“So, about Morgan’s punishment” the little girl beside Rhodey tensed up immediately “she will receive a week of detention after school, starting from the next Monday. That means she won’t be able to join any clubs or extracular activities after class like usual.”

Morgan’s face fell at that and Rhodey winced internally. His little niece had been talking about her STEM club for days after her first day at the club. She was so excited to participate in the STEM club again since “my teacher is sooooo cool, uncle Rhodey”. Poor girl.

“So, is that all? Can we leave now?”

Rhodey asked as he stood up with Morgan from their seats. The principal nodded and also stood up.

“Yes, of course. You two can go now. Please forgive me for not seeing you out since I still have other works to do right now.”

Rhodey nodded and was about to leave when the brat’s mother (the bitch!!!) bit out.

“You better teach that child how to behave because if this happen again, I will personally ruin you and your family!”

Okay. Rohdey had had enough. He turned back and stared at the mad woman in the eyes.

“Oh yeah? And how do you think you would do that? Because if you think you can do that just by being rich then know this: money has never been a problem to us. Two can play at that game.”

After having finished saying that, he turned around, ignored the hatred looks he got from the brat’s family and intended to leave when Morgan tugged at his sleeve.

“Uncle Rhodey, I have to apologize to Jack.”

He frowned, silently hating this. He knew that he shouldn’t encourage Morgan’s today action, but he couldn’t help but think that the brat deserve what he had to receive. So while he thought that his niece shouldn’t have to apologize for what had happened, he still let her do it.

“Sorry.”

She said simply, there was no sincerity in her voice as she said that. When he turned back to look at him, Rhodey noticed there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. She said loud and proud (with clear intention to mock certain people in the room).

“I promised Ms. Parker that I would apologize to Jack since it would prove that I’m better than him! That’s why I have to say sorry to that bully, uncle Rhodey!”

Oh my god, Morgan. Rhodey could barely contain his laugh as he saw the face of _certain people_ in the room. They look like they had sucked an entire lemon! And it was hilarious!

Rhodey was so proud of his niece as the two of them exiting the principal’s office. When they were near the gate of the school, he told her, with a smirk on his face.

“You mustn’t hit anyone like that again, okay? Next time that happen, go find a teacher so you won’t have to get into troubles like today.”

“I know.”

Morgan said, very seriously.

“Alright, your dad is waiting for both of us at Burger King. Let’s go see hi—”

Before he even finished his sentence, Morgan already ran toward the gate, dragging him with her while screaming happily.

“Cheeseburger!!”

Rhodey could only follow the little girl and laughed at her antics. She was so much like Tony.

They slowed down a bit when Morgan spotted the car, the girl bounced happily as they walked toward it.

But then, Rhodey saw _her_. His smile slipped from his face immediately.

She just exited the car with Natasha sitting inside it casually and didn’t notice him or Morgan at first. Then she turned back and saw them.

Rhodey could see the way the color drained from her face at that moment, but he didn’t care.

“Penny?”

He choked out, couldn’t contain his emotions.

_It was Penny._

She was there, only a few meters away from him. _She was so close._

He took a step toward her and she took a step back. Then…she ran. Rhodey let go off Morgan’s hand and turned to Natasha, who just exited the car, and shouted to her.

“Take care of Morgan!”

He started chasing Penny after that. His legs brace creaking as he ran but he didn’t _give a fuck_. His only thought was to catch Penny.

They ran through the crowded street, ignoring the stares of the others.

She was _fast_.

Penny was really fast, that was his thought when he ran after her. But that was expected since she was not really normal people. Their distance was getting longer and longer and Rhodey didn’t like that one bit.

_But he wouldn’t give up that easy._

Muttering under his breath as he took out his transformation device, a present from Tony, he put it on his chest.

““Oh no no, I won’t let you slip away just like that.”

He tapped on it thrice. As the nanites quickly covered his body, he kept running.

“System is online.”

As soon as he heard that, he immediately ordered FRIDAY.

“Activate rocket booster at 15%.”

He couldn’t injure the civilians or worse, Penny, so he didn’t fly at full speed. But that was enough to catch up with the girl. Penny was a bit tricky though, when he was close enough to catch her, she suddenly turned left and ran into an alley.

“Shit!”

Rhodey cursed as he missed the girl and had to turn the suit around to go after her again.

10 meters…

8 meters…

6 meters…

4meters…

3 meters…

2 meters…

1 meters…

He reached his hand out and…caught her.

Rhodey winced as he knew his touch was a little rough on Penny’s shoulder and he muttered a small apologize. But any kind of guilt disappeared temporary from his head when he made the girl turn back to see her face.

“Oh my God, it’s really you!”

Waves of happiness and relief surged inside him.

It felt like a dream.

After months of searching relentlessly, he finally found her. His niece was there, just barely a meter away from him. She was alive and looking very healthy, completely the opposite of what they had feared of for the past few months.

Gosh, he had so many questions for her. Let Tony and May handle the heavy talking heart-to-heart thingy, Rhodey just wanted to ask Penny what had happened to her in the last few months.

But, _of course_ , the universe wouldn’t let everything be that easy for him.

The suit suddenly moved on its own, it let go of Penny’s shoulder, turned away and took off.

“Wha--? What? What!? What is this?! FRI—FRIDAY!”

Rhodey tried to regain his control over the suit while figuring out what the _hell_ was happening, but all his efforts proved to be useless. The AI didn’t reply to any of his commands or even respond _at all_. FRIDAY was completely silent and Rhodey couldn’t do anything else than being flown away by his suit, far from Penny.

_Penny._

This must be Penny’s doing! She must have hacked into FRIDAY while running away from him! He didn’t know how, but the girl was Tony’s kid and what had happened in the last few months had proven that she was very capable of pulling this kind of stunt!

Rhodey would need to _kill_ Tony for this! He thought his friend had upgraded FRIDAY’s system so she wouldn’t be hacked again, but apparently, he hadn’t. Dear lord…

As the sight of Stark Tower became nearer and nearer, the colonel realized that the suit was heading toward the Tower. He finally landed on the helipad with a loud ‘clank’ of metal. As soon as he straightened up, FRIDAY’s voice rang through the speaker.

“I’m very sorry Colonel Rhode. It appears that I have been hacked again.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” He muttered as the AI continued talking.

“Please give me five seconds to reboot and scanning my system. Finished in 5…4…3…2…1. Process completed. You can now use your suit again, Colonel Rhode.”

“Uh no, I don’t think so. Not until Tony can figure out how to upgrade your system.”

He said, a little bitterly as he climb out of the metal suit. Rhodey quickly fished out his phone from his pocket as soon as he stepped out. First, he sent a quick text to Natasha, telling her to bring Morgan back to the Tower on her own. Next, he called Tony.

It rang three times before Tony picked up his phone.

“What’s up, Honey Bear? Are you already on your way—”

Rhodey cut him off “No, no. Tony, listen, you have to come back to the Tower right away.”

“…What’s wrong? Is Morgan injured or something? Oh god, no, I thought she would be okay. Her watch said…”

“I saw Penny.”

A heavy silence from Tony before the man finally whispered under his breath.

“What?”

Rhodey cleared his throat before hesitantly replied his best friend.

“I saw her. Shit, Tony, I _caught_ her. But the suit was hacked, I think that was Penny’s doing, and now I lost her again. The suit flew me all the way to your Tower, Tony. But…but I saw her.”

He heard some shuffles from the other end before his best friend finally replied.

“Shit, oh my goodness.” Rhodey could hear the shakiness in Tony’s voice, it was like the other man was suddenly out of breath as he said through the phone “Is…is she okay? God, is she alright? Are you sure you didn’t mistaken her for someone else? Shit, Rhodey…”

“Take a deep breath, Tony.” Rhodey said gently “Take a deep breath and calm down a bit, okay?”

“Ye—yeah, okay. Okay.” Tony took in a few shaky deep breaths as the colonel waited for him to calm down a bit.

“It’s alright, Tony. Now, first, you should get into the car and come back to the Tower. And as you do so, if you can, you should try to track down Penny, I will have FRIDAY send you her last coordinate that I saw her. Morgan is also on her way coming back now with Natasha. It’s alright.”

Rhodey softened his tone as his best as he guide Tony, he knew that his friend wasn’t really thinking straight right now since he just receive that kind of news. To reply him, Tony said as he sounds like he was trying to suppress his sobs.

“Al—alright. Alright. I will have Happy drive me back right now,” Tony choked on his words “an—and I will try to track Penny down. I will try—shit, oh my god. I can’t believe this is real.”

“I know, I know, Tony. But it’s real, it’s all gonna be fine now. We are gonna get her back. Penny is going to be back soon. It’s all gonna be alright now.”

Tony let out a small sob through the phone and Rhodey could imagine the man nodded shakily as he said with his uneven voice.

“It’s all gonna be alright now, Penny is going to be home…my kid is gonna be home soon.”

“That’s right, Tony, she is. Now, let get into the car and come back here okay?”

“Ye—yeah. I’m going to track her down. See you, Rhodey.”

“Yeah, alright…and Tony?”

“Huh?”

“It will be fine soon.”

“…that’s right, that’s right.”

Then, the call ended. Rhodey texted Happy and told the man to grab something from Burger King for Morgan (cheeseburger) since he was pretty sure Tony wasn’t in the shape to order something before walked inside the Tower. He had been standing on the helipad since he landed on it. He let himself breath out in relief for a little bit because he trusted that everything was gonna be okay.

_Penny was going home so everything is gonna be okay._

Well, he would certainly be disappointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite crappy, I don’t even know why. I just feel like it’s gonna be a disappointment. Originally, I wanted it to be longer but then I just cut it short and decided to put the last part into our next chapter.  
> Next chapter will be better, I promise. Fluffy stuffs between Morgan and Penny! Quality sibling bonding time!  
> Also, sorry for chapter 26, I know it’s crappy!
> 
> Please leave some comments and kudos so I can have enough energy to write the next chapter! Love you guys lots!


	29. Chapter 29

Tony thought that he was gonna go crazy.

They were so, so…so _fucking_ close to find out where Penny was. Rhodey had seen the kid, he even _caught_ her this afternoon and Tony had almost immediately went to track down his kid. He had hacked into the CCTV system and found the videos recorded the moment when Rhodey caught Penny and what happened after that. Tony successfully kept track of her up until she crossed the street in a crossroad, after that, she just…disappeared.

A second before Tony was still seeing the girl running and the next, he couldn’t find her anywhere! He tried to search from different cameras around that area but there was obviously a short cut. It wasn’t really a clean work from Penny’s side since it only took Tony about a minute to realize that all the record was edited. However, the girl was smart enough to not only erase any footage include her, but also every single one from every camera around New York in the minute that she _disappeared_ from the footage. That meant Tony couldn’t track her down by finding out which camera had been interfered with because Penny had messed with every single camera in New York!

Many would say that this wasn’t really fruitless because Tony was now pretty certain that Penny was still in New York. And from the location that Penny was last seen from the footage, there was a high chance that she was somewhere in Manhattan, maybe in the west side. However, Tony was still pissed and deeply disappointed as he once again failed to find where his kid was.

And of course, he was now fucking furious as he looked at Natasha.

Natasha could be considered as one Tony’s closest friends, despite how their relationship had begun. Aside from Rhodey of course, she was the one that Tony trusted the most in the Avengers team. And now, he just found out that she had been hiding things from him. Things that she certainly knew it would help him finding where Penny was.

For example, she had a private conversation with the vigilant without anyone’s knowledge.

Or, the fact that she actually saw Penny with her own eyes days before.

“Uhm,…” Rhodey cleared his throat, broke the silence “how is FRIDAY scanning?”

“Only 30%. I think there must be something blocking her. Must be Penny.”

Tony answered, eyes never leave the holo-screen in front of all of them. It was projecting the cut from Rhodey’s suit footage and the progressing bar. The bar was too slow for anyone liking so Tony just mainly stared at Penny’s face.

His kid’s face.

It was no doubt Penny but there were a lot differences. Her brown curly hair was now blond and silky. Her chocolate eyes were blue (must be colored lens or something like that) and she was wearing lipstick and mascara. There was no science pun t-shirt which was like a special Penny trade mark.

Tony quickly recognized the hole in FRIDAY’s face recognition system after another scan through the coding. He then proceeded to make FRIDAY search everything based on Penny’s new appearance. If everything went smoothly, even if the girl had successfully deleted the footage of hers, they would find Penny’s location by the next day.

But at that moment, Tony’s mind wasn’t really on the progress bar. He was counting the differences with Penny’s new appearance.

The Penny that he knew clearly about was…nerdy. She was nerdy in an adorable way that only a kid could be. She never put on makeup, even if it was only lipstick, excluding special occasion like Homecoming or so. She liked wearing science pun t-shirt with a pair of jeans and sometimes, a jacket. Her wearing style was very simple and almost never changed in the time that Tony knew her, if the weather was cold, she would put on an extra coat or maybe a plain sweatshirt. She seemed to have a preference toward the pink color and dresses based on what he had heard from the girl conversation with Pepper, which wasn’t really a surprise, considering the fact that she was a girl. Even so, he had never had the chance to see her wearing pink or a dress before. The charity gala that they should have the chance to go together was supposed to be the first time Tony see his kid wear a dress.

_But Penny was snapped and that gala they were supposed to go to never happened._

Tony knew that as Penny grow up, she would change her wearing style, she would start using makeups. She would start worrying about her appearance (that was if she wasn’t already had). Penny would change. She would change from a kid to a real lady and then…a woman. An adult. His kid would grow and no longer can be called as a kid. Tony knew that. But he welcomed that fact with open arms, as long as he got the chance to be there, to witness how his kid would change, would grow. He wanted to be with Penny to welcome every special milestone with her. He knew that she was already 16 and that would start soon.

But he never expected it to be like this.

Penny…disappeared for a few months and just…changed a lot. She looked…more mature, less like a kid. That made him regretted what happened even more if that was possible.

His fear drowned the relief that he had felt when he knew Penny was okay, he was scared that maybe in the last few months, Penny had changed too much, into a new person that he did not know. What if she come back but they still can’t fix this because she had changed too much?

May’s voice saved him from his spiraling thoughts. She was angry with Natasha, just like Tony, but had done a wonderful job to try to not lash out for the last 2 hours. Tony could barely contain his anger by making himself stare at the holo screen and keep thinking.

“Why…why did you not tell us anything about that? You know that finding Penny is very important to us!”

All eyes were on Natasha, who just stood there with a stoic face. She didn’t look fazed even a little bit. At the lack of answer from Natasha, May continued, raising her voice as she talked. Tony was secretly glad that he had sent his daughter to her room early and the room was soundproof.

“You know how hard we have tried to find Penny, you even participated in it yourself! You know how worry we were all this time. We even thought that she was dead!”

“I don’t understand either, Natasha.” Tony said, trying to keep his voice even “Why did you not tell us? Why did you hide this from us?”

Tony really didn’t understand why. They would probably never even know if Rhodey didn’t see Penny exited the car with Natasha still inside it.

“…She looked fine when I saw her that time.”

“So you decided to not telling us anything just because she looked fine?! Jesus, Natasha.”

Tony rubbed his temple with his head. He knew that he had let anger leak into his voice as he said that so he was trying to calm down a bit. He was so close to lash out at Natasha.

“To clarify, I mean that she looked really fine comparing to the first time I saw her when we finally met, officially.”

“What?”

Tony looked up sharply, completely shocked and caught off guard. The others had the similar reaction, but Natasha remained indifferent.

“Do you remember that day? The day we had our celebration feast? You introduced Penny to us, officially, that day.”

“Yes?” Tony said carefully, still not really understand what the superspy meant “What about that?”

The woman opened her mouth but then closed it and buried her face into her hands. Finally, she said

“I had noticed the kid’s odd behaviors since that day.”

May took a sharp breath.

“What do you mean?”

“She…I…it was just small details, but…” the woman hesitated as she tried to explain “I was a spy, and it’s almost like an instinct to notice odd behaviors from other people. Penny wasn’t a familiar person to me at that time, so I kept a closer eyes to her. I want to know more about her by observing how she acted, it was just how I often gather the information. Anyway,…” she took a deep breath “I thought you would notice.”

“I don’t understand, Natasha.” Pepper said, there was some kind of desperation in her voice that was quite obvious to others. It was like she was begging Natasha for an answer for something she didn’t know.

“The atmosphere around her was…gloomy.” Natasha said, her eyes sad “She looked quite cheerful if you didn’t look close enough, smiling and chatting with others naturally. Maybe some would think that she was only a little shy, that’s all, but… I kept noticing that her eyes…they had this kind of darkness in it. It wasn’t obvious, not really, but I realized that her smiles never quite reached her eyes. It was like she was masking her emotions.” She looked up at Tony “It was like seeing you the first time.”

Tony was stunned. Not only him, but all the people who were in that room had the similar reaction. To most of them, who had known Penny for quite a time, the girl was the type of people who wear their heart on their sleeve. But Natasha said that the girl had been hiding her emotions ever since then made them stunned at how oblivious they were.

And Tony, he knew the problem had started even before that day after checking FRIDAY’s footage and data. The kid knew that she was being lied to, but pretended to not know anything. Tony had seen her tried to reach his room in the medbay through the vent, only to end up running out of the Tower with tears on her face. And many other things… the problem were the others didn’t know about this. Tony had kept all the information he got from re-watching all the footages of Penny. They must have been even more stunned at this.

Natasha continued, but this time, her voice full of regrets.

“I noticed her kept diversing her attention between chatting with us and looking at you and your family, Tony. She did interact with the team, listened to our stories and sometimes interjected with some comments. She was quite good at keeping attention off her as she portrait a friendly atmosphere, it wasn’t a surprise how most of us didn’t realize anything. However, Penny got that look on her face when she looked at you which made me know that there was something going on. I was the one who had noticed it but I didn’t tell you guys…”

“Why did you not tell us?”

May asked, her voice choked with tears.

“Because I didn’t think…I thought you guys would realize it anyway, and I didn’t want to overstep. Moreover, when I heard Tony asked Steve about the supporting group for Penny, I thought…I thought it was gonna be fine.”

But it wasn’t. And that’s why they were here at the moment.

Tony rubbed his face with his hands. They couldn’t blame Natasha for not telling them about what she had noticed from the celebration dinner, it was their faults. If they had noticed it sooner, if they had looked closer like how Natasha did, maybe they wouldn’t be here. If they had address this problem in a different way, maybe Penny would be able to receive the help she really needed and wouldn’t feel the need to run away.

But all of that was ‘maybe’. Tony knew better to keep thinking about a ‘maybe’, because all that wouldn’t happen. They couldn’t turn back time to fix this with Penny, so all that ‘maybe’ was useless. What they had to focus on at the moment was how they were going to get Penny back, and how they were going to fix things with Penny.

It was time that Tony needed to give out an answer to the question that Barton and the vigilant gave to him many days ago – _what would he do after getting Penny back?_

“But that still didn’t explain your decision on not telling us that you found Penny, Natasha. And what did you tell Penny today in the car, when I haven’t arrived yet?”

Rhodey questioned his teammate who looked much calmer than before.

“The girl needs time to clear her mind, which was obvious after the day when I talked to the vigilant personally. I didn’t think it would be the best choice to drag her back straight away, in case both sides would react badly to the situation. What I mean is—” Natasha raised a hand to stop Rhodey, who looked like he was going to protest “the girl might hadn’t make up her mind and you all, as her family, might do something drastic like locking her in the Tower like Rapunzel because you scared that she might run away again.”

“Wha—what? We would never do that!”

Rhodey spluttered at the same time Tony let out a small chocking sound. The woman just raised her eyebrow at them.

“Really? You guys are certain that you all would be comfortable with letting Penny out of your sight after you get her back?” Rhodey’s mouth snapped shut “In the last few months, as far as I know, the kid already made a life for herself. She got new friends, going to college, had a few part-time jobs, ya know, all those jazz. In another word, she had been adapting into the life after five years being…snapped” they all flinched at the word “it’s just that not in the way you guys hope for. But it will certainly help you guys later, as this would support Penny in reconnecting with her family when she come back.”

“How can you be so sure it would happen like that?”

Pepper asked with a frown on her face, Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

“Just trust me. I’m certain about this.”

While he remained skeptical about Natasha’s statement, Tony changed the subject a little.

“So, what did you tell Penny before Rhodey came back to the car?”

The superspy smirked as she started walking toward the elevator.

“It’s a secret between spider and spider. And right,” she suddenly turned back again “the vigilant want to talk to you, Tony, and maybe May too. They will come to the Tower tomorrow, Hardy said it’s about Penny.”

With that she stepped into the elevator at the time when Tony exclaimed.

“Wait, what?”

Morgan was having a pretty bad day.

Actually, the day started quite nicely when she realized that it was Monday. Normally, Monday sucks, but her teacher had told her and anyone who also joined the STEM club that because of special reason, the STEM club will moved to Monday afternoon temporarily. Morgan was so excited, because she was now certain that Ms. Parker was her sister. Despite the adults attempts to keep everything about finding Penny secret to her, Morgan knew more than enough. She heard that her dad was very close to find out Penny’s location but FRIDAY was having some troubles so they had to stop for a few days until her dad find a solution.

Morgan was smart enough to know that if the adults know that Penny was her STEM club teacher, they would find out her location right away. While Morgan wished Penny would come home soon, she had heard from her friends at schools that many of them team up with their sibling against their parents, apparently that’s part of the sibling things. That’s why, Morgan would help Penny, they were sisters after all (in all honesty, Morgan felt quite a rush of excitement as she realized she finally had the experience of having an older sister (!!!))

But, back to the reason why Morgan’s day sucked, the little girl realized pretty quickly after her last class ended that she would have detention. She wouldn’t be able to join the club today.

With a horrible mood, she sat alone in the empty classroom watching a PSA. She wished that she could leave because she was so bored but there was a teacher who had to look after her, she was literally right outside the door. With no other choice, Morgan had to endure through an entire hour of boring PSA while thinking about how much fun she could have got if she was in the STEM club.

And uncle Happy said he would be late today, the little girl would have to wait at school for at least 30 minutes. What would Morgan do during those 30 minutes?

Many would think Penny was crazy to even come back to Morgan’s school after the encounter between her and Rhodey. Well, they were right.

Penny was crazy. She must be, because she was standing in the middle of Jupiter elementary school lab. Why she was even here, Penny wasn’t even sure herself. Maybe it was the fact that no matter what the result of her “little research but actually hacking into FRIDAY’s system” could be, Penny would be caught by the end of the week, if she was lucky. Penny knew that Mr. Stark was already half way to find out where she was by using FRIDAY’s scanning feature. Her new appearance was useless since the man decided to use itself to search for her. Felicia had told her, after hearing that Penny was almost be caught by colonel Rhodey, that if Penny want, Felicia would make sure that no one could drag Penny back. And that sound really reassuring, especially with the way Felicia gritted her teeth. So, Penny thought “whatever!” and came back here. The result wouldn’t change anyway, it’s not like she could just flee to a faraway land with her current financial status.

Beside, Penny worried about Morgan.

She wasn’t able to go that far into FRIDAY’s system, Mr. Stark must have done an upgrade or something like that, so she wasn’t sure how the adults reacted to what Morgan had done. She hoped that they didn’t scold the child.

Penny smiled as she looked at the faces of all her students, which were brightened with amazement and wonders. The teaching little kids thing was much more fun that Penny had thought, it’s good enough that she was hesitated in giving up after the first time she met Morgan. The teenage girl knew it was risky to continue this job, but Morgan hadn’t seem to have told the adults anything (and after the last time, Penny had wanted to meet the little girl again) so she decided to give it a go. At this rate, Penny was already resigned to her fate that she would be caught before the end of this week, so…

Oh well.

The kids’ excited chatting as they look at the glass tubes, filled with elephant toothpaste, made Penny’s smile widen. The atmosphere in the lab distracted Penny from the thought that she was going to be caught at any moment. As Penny started answering questions and explaining the chemical reaction to the kids, she felt pity toward Morgan. Penny actually stepped in the room, half expected to see the girl but then quickly realize she was absence. She spent a few seconds worrying about why Morgan wasn’t here before realizing that the child might have detention from the fighting incident.

Penny secretly hated herself for not doing something more, like chewing the brat and his mother out for harassing Morgan, but she was aware that she wasn’t in the right position to do it. The principal sent an email apologized and thanked her for all the mess she was dragged into a few hours after Penny came back to her dorm. Penny didn’t mind, to be honest, not after witnessing what could happen to Morgan if she didn’t appear on time, and she was just glad that Morgan was fine.

She wondered if the little girl had apologized to the brat, while the boy didn’t deserve it, the sorry might be able to lighten her punishment. At least Penny hoped so.

After checking to see if the kid had cleaned up the mess of the experiment like how she instructed, Penny bid the kids goodbye. The children left the room in great mood and even asked her what they would do in the next club meeting.

Penny smiled and looked after them until the last kid disappeared by the end of the hallway, their happy chatting made Penny hummed happily as she went to check everything for the last time before leaving. That was when she saw Morgan.

The little girl was having such a sad face as she standing by the door. She look so small and lonely like that which made Penny immediately went to her.

“Honey, what’s wrong? Why are you still here? Your parents must be waiting to pick you up.”

“Uncle Happy will be late today, I have to wait.”

The child said with a frown on her face. Penny noticed that Morgan’s hand unconsciously went to fidget with her backpack strap.

“What’s wrong, Morgan?”

“You are Penny.” The teenager girl winced internally but kept silent, she already expected Morgan to know that “You are my sister.”

Okay, if that made her jaw dropped, no one was there to see that. Beside Morgan of course.

“…Yes, I suppose my secret is out. My name is Penny. But, uh,” the older girl swallowed “who tell you that I’m your sister?”

“Everyone.” Morgan said like it was a matter of fact before tilted her head to the side, her frown deepened “Are you not? You don’t like me being your little sister?”

“What? No! That’s not what I mean!” Penny spluttered “I just wonder, uh, you know what sister means right?”

Morgan made a face at that “Of course. I’m not stupid.”

Penny couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle at Morgan’s expression despite her best effort to keep her face straight. Seeing her reaction, the little girl pouted adorably and the teenager had to resist the urge to pinch her chubby cheeks.

Okay, wait, wait. What the hell Penny was thinking? Wasn’t she supposed to be worried about the fact that Morgan knew who she was and…she thought that Penny was her sister?

As if the child could read Penny’s mind, Morgan said, with the best serious face that a five year old could muster “Daddy said you are his kid, just like me, that’s why you are my sister. Mommy, uncle Rhodey, uncle Happy and aunty May also said so. Daddy said we are like him and uncle Rhodey, we are sibling but we are not bi—bio—biologically related.”

In any other situation, most would find how Morgan stuttered while she trying to pronounce a word that she didn’t understand or remember clearly funny. But in Penny’s case, she just felt something just struck her, and if she wasn’t spiraling in her thoughts again, she might already have left the room right then and there as she try to rush back to the dorm and continue _her work_.

However, seeing how Penny’s face went blank and changed colors continuously, Morgan tugged her sleeves and asked with a scared voice.

“Penny? What’s wrong? Why are you like that?”

That shook the teenage girl out of her stupor.

“Wha—what? No, no, nothing’s wrong. You don’t have to worry. I’m just surprised.”

Surprise was an understatement. Penny was shocked to her core, and even as she reassuring Morgan, her mind kept spiraling in her thoughts. But Morgan didn’t let Penny divide her attention for too long as she suddenly became teary.

“You don’t like me become your sister? Daddy said you left home because you were sad. Are you sad because you don’t like me become your sister? Is that why you left?”

The child’s voice wavered as she said through her tears and Penny’s heart broke. Morgan looked so devastated, like someone had just taken away something so precious to her and the teenager immediately tried to sooth the girl.

“Now, now, don’t cry. Please don’t cry, Morgan.” Penny wrapped the little girl with her arms, awkwardly patted her back as she tried to calm the girl down “It’s not that I don’t like you becoming my little sister, I promise. I didn’t leave because of that either.”

The child looked up from where she was burying her face into Penny’s shirt, asked with a surprisingly small voice, and God, that look full of uncertainty, it remind Penny way too much about herself, or at least her old self.

“Really…?”

Penny nodded immediately.

“Yes! I was just surprised because…uh,” Penny swallowed “no one ever tell me that you are my sister.”

Morgan’s eyes widen (Penny secretly glad because the little kid had stopped crying).

“Really? Daddy and aunty May didn’t tell you?!”

“Uhm, yeah. Maybe it was because I never asked them.” It’s not like Penny could have thought that Mr. Stark would seriously consider her as his kid either. When Penny learned that her father figure had got a kid during the whole five years thingy, she thought that she was stupid to think, to hope that her mentor would think of her as someone more than just a mentee. It sound like a fantasy at that time to her, and it still was, even at this moment, after Morgan told her that Mr. Stark said she Penny was his kid. It…was so unreal.

_And it also led to another question…but it would be better to confirm it after Penny got back to her work at the dorm._

“Penny?” Morgan’s voice made Penny snapped her attention back to the reality “If you say so, does that means you wouldn’t mind being my sister?”

The five year old looked so hopeful, which quickly pushed Penny to the decision.

“Well, of course. I would love to be your sister, Morgan.”

And at Morgan’s beaming face, Penny knew it was worth it. She was uncertain, and there were a lot of things that she still couldn’t figure it out yet, not to mention the fact that she didn’t have a lot of experience with young children. Penny wasn’t sure if she could be the sister that Morgan seemed to be so insistent to have and she worried that she might made the little girl disappointed ( _like how she had been to many other people in her life_ ). She was scared that she would fail with being this little, super adorable little girl’s sister.

She hoped that this decision would worth the risk.

“Then why did you leave? Daddy said you left because you were sad, is that true?” Penny froze at the questions suddenly threw at her but before she could reply, Morgan already pursed her lips and said “Oh, well, you are here anyway, so that doesn’t matter anymore.”

Then the girl seemed to have decided to drop the questions and continued her cute rambling.

“Daddy, Mommy and our aunts and uncles said that they will find you soon, I heard them talking with each other. They thought I was sleeping but I wasn’t so I opened the door of my room a little bit to hear what they were saying. They were so loud! I thought aunt May was screaming at aunty Tasha but then suddenly they talked to each other normally. It’s weird. But I haven’t told them that you are my teacher so—”

“Wait, wait” Penny cut in “You haven’t told them about me being your teacher yet?”

“Yes? I thought you wanted to keep it a secret?”

Morgan tilted her head a little bit, confused. Penny let out a squeal and engulfed the little girl into a tight hug.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!”

She was so glad, this meant Penny would certainly have another few days to figure out an answer on her own and not worry about being dragged back.

Morgan seemed to satisfied with Penny’s reaction because she gave the older girl a blinding smile. Then suddenly, Morgan changed her demeanor.

“Oh no, what’s time is it?”

“What’s wrong Morgan?”

“Happy said he would pick me up 30 minutes late but I want to see the experiment. I missed the STEM club today, and you said that we would make a chemical experiment today!”

Penny blinked then laughed.

“Well, if you want to, we can make one right now. It only takes a few minutes. Happy wouldn’t come for another 15 minutes anyway.”

Penny knew Happy would be a bit later that he said because Karen just showed his location on the lens for her to see. The teenager led Morgan to a table and took out the equipment and chemicals needed.

“Alright, put on your gloves.” Morgan quickly complied “Then pour this into the glass cup, be careful, don’t spill it. This is hydrogen peroxide 10%.”

Morgan poured the chemical into the cup, fully concentrate before looking at Penny for another instruction.

“Put a few drops of dish soap in. Very good. What color do you like, Morgan?”

The little girl said excitedly “Red!”

Penny smiled.

“Here, put into the cup a few drop of this. It’s food coloring. Yeah, just like that. Now put the yeast powder into this bottle, mix it up. We are mixing warm water with yeast, Morgie.”

The nickname slipped out without the notice of Penny as she continued talking.

“That’s good. Now pour the yeast mixture into the glass cup, do it fast.”

The little girl did like she was told and squealed as the red foam poured out from the glass cup.

“The yeast mixture acted as a catalyst, a catalyst is used to speed up a reaction, Morgan. I can explain it clearer the next time we do this.”

“We can do this another time?!”

Morgan asked excitedly, jumped up and down. Penny stiffened a laugh as she replied with a smile.

“Yes, we can. Now, let’s clean this up. Happy will be here soon.”

The girl nodded her head and helped Penny to clean the mess of their experiment. After that, they walked out of the school building together, hand in hand. Morgan bounced on her feet as Penny crouched down to bid her goodbye.

“I can see that Happy was going to be here soon, so I have to go. Don’t wander around okay? See you later Morgan.”

“See you later!”

Morgan said happily as she wrapped her arms around Penny’s neck for a goodbye hug. They parted away after that, both feeling weirdly content.

Penny only left after she saw Morgan safely got into Happy’s car. She went back to the dorm immediately.

“It would take another 3 hours to download all of these, Penny. Are you sure you want to watch them?”

“Yes, I’m sure Karen. Please keep download the footage from FRIDAY’s server.”

Penny remembered what Natasha had said.

_If you aren’t sure, why don’t seek for evidence yourself?_


	30. :))))))))))

It’s not easy to recognize a person with serious insecurity problems like Penny. Most would just think that she had low self-esteem or being a little shy, that’s all. Nothing’s wrong. She was fine, perfectly healthy, both physically and mentally.

No one knew…

It’s not something that was developed in a matter of days or months, it was _years_ since it first appeared.

But no one knew…

Most people would think that Penny was born and had been living in Queens for her whole life, they weren’t wrong. Not really, anyway.

When the girl was barely three years old, her parent suddenly moved to Minnesota. Why they done that, no one was sure. It just looked like a quick decision, nothing was abnormal. But let just discuss why they left New York all of a sudden for another day.

Penny spent two years, almost three, of her childhood in Minnesota with her parents. She was loved and had a comfortable life with her parents who were good people and brilliant scientists. Penny grew up happy and soon developed a passion toward science.

Overall, she was a normal child.

“Mommy, but I want that Teddy bear!”

Penny whined and was going to cry and throw a tantrum if her mother wasn’t going to grant her what she wanted. But the woman in her thirties wasn’t going to budge.

“No. You have already had enough plushies at home.” The little girl’s lips wobbled and she was going to burst into tears when her mother continued with a stern glare “If you continued doing this, I’m gonna leave you here alone.”

It started then with that sentence… _I’m gonna leave you here alone_

It shouldn’t have that kind of effect on Penny since it was just a harmless threat from her parents to make her behave, but…

“Remember to behave yourself, okay? And play nice with Sasha.”

Her mother gently told her as they were gonna drop Penny at her best friend’s house for a play date. Penny’s parents were going on a business trip to “ _a faraway place_ ” and couldn’t take their daughter with them. No matter how much time Penny had spent to try to make her parents take her with them, they still wouldn’t agree.

Just before Penny’s parents left, they crouched down to give the girl a hug, which was little strange. But Penny didn’t notice it at that time, she immediately went and joined her friend, Sasha, in her tea party.

And then, the evening that Penny’s parents were supposed to pick Penny up came. But Mary and Richard Parker never appeared.

Sasha’s parents received a call from CPS and they were told that Penny’s parents were in a plane crash, both of them didn’t make it. They reluctantly let the social worker take Penny away to a foster home for the night until the little girl’s aunt and uncle could arrive.

It was all a blur to Penny. That night, when her peaceful life started to shatter, was a memory that she wanted to burry forever.

She remembered lying in the bunk bed of the foster home in the dark as she cried. An older girl, who shared the room with Penny, sneered with anger and hatred in her voice.

“Stop crying! If you are here, then that means your parents left you. They won’t come back, they left you!”

Years later, whenever Penny thought about that moment with a clear head, she would feel pity toward the other girl. She was abandoned by the people that were supposed to love her, and her innocence had been ruined by her cruel fate, made her become someone who hurt others. In some ways, she was also a victim.

But at that moment, the five years old little girl’s mind was just filled with grieve and sadness which only made the problems worse. That one single sentence followed and hunted Penny for years without anyone notice. Even Penny wasn’t really conscious about it.

_Because Penny was bad, her parents left her._

It wasn’t rational, everyone knew it. Well, at least _most_ people knew it. But most people didn’t include Penny.

May and Benjamin Parker welcome Penny into their lives with open arms, even if they weren’t prepared for it. The moment they were informed about their brother and sister-in-law’s tragic accident, they wasted almost no time to get to their poor niece, who was then orphan. Even after a twenty hour drive from New York to Minnesota which made both of them drained, they immediately rushed to the foster home and filed for full custody over the little girl. Both of them were grieving, but their main priority was surrounded Penny.

At first glance, everyone would think that Penny had settled into her new life without a lot struggles. 

If that could have been the true…

Penny started living with her aunt and uncle, she left Minnesota with both of them after that incident. She got into new school, with no friend her age, completely lonely. May and Ben tried to help her, tried to make everything easier, but during the first month, their niece shut everyone out. Then she somehow suddenly got better. The girl became the best student in her class, looked a lot more cheerful and no longer remained the quiet, grieving child. Penny loved helping around in the house, she always kept her room clean and tidy, she never nag May or Ben for anything like other child.

May and Ben were both worried about her. They thought that something was wrong with Penny, but the others convinced them that it was because Penny was a golden child and they were lucky to have such a well-mannered niece like that. May and Ben were uncertain, but they thought it was definitely better to have Penny like this than for her to keep shutting out.

They never know why Penny was like that nor about the fear that had formed inside the little girl’s head ever since then.

_If you are bad, May and Ben will leave you. Just like mom and dad._

That was how Penny May Parker had grown up into a perfect girl with insecurity problems. Problems that no one knew about until too late.

Penny loved her aunt and uncle just like with her parents. Actually, since her memories of her parents were all blurry, she considered them as her parents more than just aunt and uncle. She wished that they would never leave her like her parents.

But then Ben died.

His death sent the girl into a spiral of depression, PTSD and self-blaming. She kept thinking and thinking, came to the conclusions that were worse than the one before. Ben’s death was on her. If she didn’t ask him to wait for her as she went to buy some ice cream for both of them, he wouldn’t be dead. It was all her faults since she had her special ability but didn’t know how to use, thus cause the death of her uncle. If she had been stronger, had been faster, she would have been able to stop the shooter. If she had known what to do when Ben was bleeding out on the sidewalk, he wouldn’t be dead.

Ben’s death was all on her.

It was all her faults for asking him to wait for her, it was all her faults for not being able to stop the shooter, it was all her fault for staying frozen in shock as Ben was dying.

_She couldn’t have known what was going to happen when she asked him to wait for her_ , excuse.

_She just got her power, she couldn’t have known how to use them_ , excuse.

_She was just a 13 year-old child, she couldn’t have known what to do in such a stressful situation like that_ , excuse.

_Even if she had tried to stop the bleeding, or calling for an ambulance right away, Ben still wouldn’t be able to survive_ , excuse.

It was all excuse. Ben’s death was on her, no matter what others may say. That was what he self-destructive mind had told her.

And to make the matter worsened, Penny saw how May had struggled emotionally and financially after Ben’s death.

May was a strong woman and a wonderful mother. She tried her best to stay strong for Penny and refused to let her kid see how much troubles they were going through, after all, she was Penny’s only living family member after what happened with Ben. But Penny could be more observant than she often showed, being a genius and all that jazz.

She realized how much her existence had affected May and Ben’s lives, and not in a positive way. She was a _burden_. If she didn’t exist, May and Ben wouldn’t have to deal with all the trouble she caused, Benn wouldn’t have to die, and May wouldn’t have to lose her husband. That’s why every time May do something for her, even if it’s just giving a small hug or a peek on the cheek, Penny felt immensely grateful.

She could never take anything from May for granted because she was so guilty. So, so guilty. She was guilty because she had to exist, she was guilty because she was still alive instead of Ben or her parents, she was guilty because she was such a burden on May. May would rather be off without her, that what she thought. And sometimes, when she let her mind wondering around too much, she would wonder if May was going to throw her out.

But May loved her, that was what Penny was certain about. She knew that May and Ben loved her, despite how lowly she thought about herself. She never thought that she deserved their love though, May was just simply too good, too kind to let her stay after what had happened. Afterall, they didn’t have any blood relationship.

Penny started being Spider Girl because of Ben’s last word, and also because she was guilty. She was guilty of what had happened with Ben, she was guilty of every bad thing that happened around New York. She had this super power, the power that was able to help and protect the normal people around her, it’s her responsibility. Sometimes, she felt like she was a sinner who was trying to repay for what she had done.

She was all lonely, even after meeting the other vigilant, and reckless. She threw herself into danger just to come back to her room and suffer in silence. Every time she sew herself up from a stabbing wound, or digging out a bullet from her body, she would try not to cry, not only because she didn’t want to wake May up, but also because she thought that this was what she deserve. Even if she bit her lips until it bleed when she was going through so much pain, she wouldn’t let tears fall.

It was all her faults.

But then one day, Mr. Stark showed up at her home. It was a turning point. Mr. Stark also had a lot of mental problems, most that Penny could relate to. He was a true hero, who she had been admiring ever since she was little girl. He was understanding and he seemed to be fond of her, despite all the problems and troubles she caused. And most importantly, as a complete stranger, he had chosen to let her stay in his lives. May and Ben had chosen to keep her, but it was because they were already family. Mr. Stark was not.

Mr. Stark was gentle, patient with her. He was always there for her, always ready to offer his assistance. And somehow, he was like Ben. They shared the same kind of warm aura, being with either of them made Penny felt safe and content. Things were looking up, bit by bit. Penny was actually started to realize that even if she made some mistakes, like getting a B on her test or forgetting to clean her room, the adults in her life would not leave. Not like her parents.

Penny was almost certain that the universe would stop taking the people that she loved away, at least for quite a long time. Of course, Parker’s luck strike again and Penny learned how the universe could just take all of them away from her, but not by death.

She was snapped.

Five years and things had changed. Everyone had moved on with their lives, leaving Penny behind, desperate to catch up. But no amount of effort seemed to be enough as she realized how fragile everything could be. And after too much pain, she gave up.

She ran.

For the past few months, all on her own, she was much happier. She believed that her family would rather be off without her.

But now, after watching a bunch of recordings compilation that Karen managed to steal from FRIDAY’s server, she felt like she was slapped. As she kept watching, she realized how much pain she had caused others. May, Mr. Stark, Happy, Pepper, Rhodey….they were desperately searching for her while she was out here enjoying her life (I was inspired after reading a comment, lol).

Was she being delusional all this time? Was all the pain she had gone through unreal and was created because of her being self-centered? Oh. She had gone crazy huh?

Karen had been hesitated to let her see the recordings, was she worried that Penny would realize how much of a screwed up person she was?

She let out a wrecked sob and buried her face into her arms, tuned out the worry question from Karen. She just wanted to forget. She wanted to forget whatever happened in the last few months since she came back from the snap. She wanted to forget all of them, all of those memories.

She wanted to forget.

Penny felt like her lungs were being crushed by a huge stone and she couldn’t breathe.

She wished that it would go away.

Helen let out a sob as she failed to wake Penelope up. No amount of call was able to wake her roommate up. She had already noticed how weird Penelope had been acting since yesterday afternoon when she came back to the dorm.

She was off, and refused to eat anything for yesterday dinner. She was awfully quiet and pale.

Helen should have done something. This was all her faults.

As her gaze never moved from Penelope’s unmoving form, Helen shakily pressed the call button on her phone screen.

Oh god.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead, don't worry. I will be back with you guys after I finished my mid term exams.  
> (will edit this note later, maybe)


	31. Merry Christmas! I got gifts for you guys!

So, like many of you have known, I recently posted a note stating that I might quit this story.

Since then, I have received a lot of encouraging and understanding comments from you guys. It's...well, let just say that my eyes were a little wet while reading them. Thank you a lot, really.

I must say sorry, not what you might be thinking, this is a good news.

It was...more like a teasing note. The struggles that I mentioned were all true, but I have somehow managed to go through all of them.

At first, I planned to release them during my Lunar New Year holidays and didn't have any intention of dropping this fic, but I still want to see if there were anyone who care about this story, so I posted the note. Sorry, again.

I will post the rest of the story once every two or three days, depend on my schedule. Starting from tomorrow until the New Year Eve.

Merry Christmas!


	32. Back at the Tower!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing's new guys, I just re-update to change the date of the story. Sorry for disapointing you :P

Felicia Hardy was born on a cold winter night, only two around two weeks before Christmas. She wasn’t exactly welcomed by her parents. If we are being straight forward, she was an accident.

Her mother, a barely 18 year old girl, was unequipped to raise her properly. Her father, 22 and was already arrested thrice for different crimes he had made since before he dropped out of high school, only agreed to let Felicia be born because of his lover’s plead. Both of them were kicked out of their own biological family and were almost homeless.

Felicia was brought home, a mediocre flat, in the place that had the highest crime rate in the entire New York city. The infant spent her first six months slept with her mother on the rug in the middle of their apartment, near the heater, while her father slept on the cot near them. The whole place didn’t even have a bed, they only had a rug because an old lady was kind enough to give them for free instead of selling it.

The baby grew up into a skinny little girl who was often starved by her parents. She was smart and loved going to school, where there were a lot of books to read and hot lunch that was probably the only meal in her entire day. Her favorite teacher, Ms. Ramona (the young teacher had insisted her students to call her by her first name), was kind. She often told a lot of interesting stories about the places that she had been able to visit when she was younger, and sometimes, she would give Felicia an apple or banana, or, Felicia’s favorite: candy.

Felicia rarely had the chance to have sweets when she was still a child, so she loved cookies, cakes and candies of all kind. The fruits that Ms. Ramona gave her, Felicia also loved it, because when she was starving at night, she could take a bite to fill up her empty stomach.

When she was around seven, her parents really started to fall into their old habits. Sure, both of them weren’t the nicest whenever they’re angry, which was more often that one would think, they would hit her, most of the time leave bruises, but they still try to get some money from decent jobs to feed the family. However, when Felicia was around seven, she had noticed some _odd behaviors_ from her parents. Her father often went out until late and when he came back home, he was often drunk and she spotted some weird smell on him. Her mother was almost always rigged with alcohol, she constantly smoked. Slowly, the beating sessions increased, with her father and mother screamed at her about how useless, and ungrateful she was. Felicia kept silence and endured it all.

When she was eight, one night, her father came home and screaming at her about him “don’t have money because of this little bitch” and “no drug” or something like that. After being beaten up, Felicia was thrown out of her home in the middle of winter night with an empty stomach. The little girl dragged her feet on the snow covered street of New York, she didn’t have shoes on her, and the tattered sleeping dress was too thin to keep her warm.

The street was empty and the little child felt so lonely. This was years ago so the children protection service wasn’t as good as nowadays and the place where Felicia lived could be called as slum. It was very dangerous to go out at night alone, as a kid no less, due to high crime rate in this part of the city.

After around fifteen minutes walking around, the little girl felt like she was going to turn into an ice statue. She was so cold and with each step, she could feel how her body stiffened. Suddenly, she saw a flutter of movement from across the street.

Ah. It was Mr. Fluffy.

Mr. Fluffy was a large dog with thick black fur. His name wasn’t Mr. Fluffy but Felicia liked to call him that. His owner wasn’t the nicest, he was an old man who had a weird way of discipline his dog. Mr. Fluffy would sometimes chained outside of the house, starved with his food in sight but couldn’t reach it because of the chain. Sometimes, Felicia would help him to get his foods discretly, the girl liked to think that they were friends.

Felicia crossed the street and walked toward Mr. Fluffy. She picked up the food bowl a few meters away from the dog, her stomach churning with hunger.

As she put the food bowl down on the ground, close enough for Mr. Fluffy to eat his food, she murmured, hoping that the dog would understand her.

“You won’t mind to share a bit, right?”

The dog looked at her before using his front leg to kick his food bowl toward her. Felicia paused as the dog stared at her expectantly. She grabbed a handful of dog food with her hand and the dog started eating his food.

The dog food was hard to chew and its taste by no mean delicious. However, it was at least edible to human to some extent, and to Felicia, she really appreciated it. It soothed the pain of hunger that had been churning inside her stomach. She started crying, very silently, she didn’t want to wake the owner of Mr. Fluffy, she was trespassing into his property after all. Each time she swallowed the dog food, a flood of tears escaped her eyes.

It was almost Christmas.

Her birthday was two days ago, but of course, no one knew or cared about that. Felicia came to school and heard how all the kids her age had been very excited as they waited for Christmas in the past two weeks. They wore warm clothes, had shoes, socks and gloves. They all wished to have new, nice toys for Christmas.

Felicia didn’t believe in Santa Clause, she had never been able to receive a Christmas present before. If Santa Clause really existed, she hoped that he would bring her some warm clothes, or foods.

Mr. Fluffy saw her tears and he tried to wipe them by licking her cheeks. His action made Felicia giggle. After both of them finished eating, Mr. Fluffy lied down on the ground while Felicia curled up against him. The skinny, little girl tried to make her become a ball to receive as much heat as possible from Mr. Fluffy. The dog didn’t mind one bit.

That night Felicia fell asleep, dreaming about having a new, warm sweater and a stuffed turkey for Christmas. She also dreamed about someone who gave her warm hug with a pair of gentle arms. When she woke up at five that day, she wished her dream would come true.

Of course, Felicia continued to spend her Christmas without present and almost no food that year.

Started from a month before that year spring break, Felicia started trying to make money. After school or whenever she had “free time”, she would wander around on the street of New York. With her frail looking body and her tattered clothes, she was easily mistaken as a homeless little girl. People would stop and ask her if she had anywhere to go, where were her parents, sometimes they would offer her some foods or drinks, other times they gave her some cash with a sympathetic smile. In all honesty, she was very grateful for their help, but that wasn’t the reason why she wandering around on the street.

Even when she had to grow up in such condition, Felicia Hardy had her pride. She wanted to get money by her own strength, not by others kindness and sympathy. Of course, there wasn’t anywhere that would hire an eight year old girl, but there was other way to get money. Felicia was smart, she followed the homeless people who sold parts of machine that was thrown into dumpster for a living. Those people taught her how to choose things to sell from the trash, how much money that she should be able to get from them and where she could find them.

Since then, she started bringing money back home. Sometimes, she could get around 30 dollars a day, or even 50 if she was lucky, but sometimes she didn’t even have any to bring back home. The money soon became the new element for her parents to decide if the girl should be beaten up or starved, so she always tried her best to make more money.

Unfortunately, for her parents, it was still not enough. Her parents quickly fell into their old habits since before she was born: alcoholic and drugs addict. They didn’t even make an effort to go out to work anymore, everything, from rent to water bills, it was all her money. But with the drugs and alcohol, her parents were in serious troubles with the people that they could never go against. They needed money to pay for their debt, quick. So what did they choose to do?

They sold Felicia.

When Felicia was 14, she was sold by her parents to some guys of the underworld for 4000 dollars. She remembered having screamed and begged their parents while she was being dragged away into an unfamiliar car by a bunch of men. Her parents ignored her as they counted the money in their hands.

When Felicia was 14, she lost her innocence.

She was thrown into a dark, small, smelly room after being ‘used’ by some men, those men told her that their boss said it was okay to use her for leisure as a prize.

Tears slipped from her eyes as she stared into the dark ceiling. Felicia rarely cried, harsh life had taught her that tears wouldn’t help her solve her problems. Instead of crying, she decided to use her strength for something more useful, she held her head high as she deal with the problems and refused to shed tears.

Her teacher, who believed in karma, often told her and her classmates that good person would be blessed by luck. Oh, how wrong it was.

Up until that moment, Felicia had always been a good person. Despite all the things she had gone through, she would never be willing to harm anyone in any way. It’s a miracle that she was like that, considering how her parents were like. She dreamed to be a social worker who could help children, or a teacher, like Ms. Ramona, who showed her kindness. She also wanted to become a doctor who save others, but medical school often cost more time and money, so she decided to think about it later, in her dreams when she finally had somewhat of a stable life.

But all of that had then shattered.

Felicia became a possession of an illegal underworld organization. She learned how to seduce men with her appearance and her charms to steal things for the ‘boss’. She learned how to fight, how to get into places with high security without being noticed, she learned how to steal. She became an important asset to the organization and remained a high profiled agent up until the destruction of said organization, which might be or might be not caused by her.

It’s their faults, really, they said not to be merciful to the enemy, and they were her enemy.

How ironic.

After leaving the organization, she used her skills, her information to become the Black Cat of New York. All the innocent dreams of becoming a good person who could help others were abandoned, up until Penny showed up.

When they first met each other, Penny was in deep depression. The girl just lost her uncle and the guilt drove her to at least do something. Unfortunately, ‘something’ that Penny had decided to do was becoming Spider-girl. A young (only 14 years old) girl who had never known how to throw a punch to defend herself, threw in the desperation to do something for her dead uncle and we got a horrible mix. Felicia knew that the girl wouldn’t last a month even with her super healing ability.

And looking at Penny somehow reminded her of her old self. Both of them had gone through some pretty depressing shits at such a young age and were both forced to have power. If in Penny’s case, it was the spider abilities, then in Felicia’s case, it was the training that she was forced to go through by the organization. The biggest different was that they used their powers for different purposes. Felicia used her abilities to do stuffs, bad stuffs, which would benefit her, while Penny became a vigilant who wanted to help others. They were different yet alike. And not to mention that whenever Felicia saw the good deeds that Spider-girl had done, she had some intense flashback to her old dreams, when she still wanted to become someone that would be of help to the others. So she decided to help the girl.

She carefully guided the teenager girl through the first few months after Spider-girl made her first appearance. She taught the girl some cool tricks to handle the criminals around New York, how to mask her fear with witty comments, how to hide her bruise with make ups.

She soon learned that not only her, but many others vigilant around New York wanted to help Penny, not only Matt and Wilson. They didn’t appear a lot, but would not be hesitate to give Penny a hand if the girl asked for it or they thought that she couldn’t handle it. Jessica Jones was an example. The others remained a certain distance toward Penny, but from their small talks at the bars over a few shot of tequila, they were all fond of the girl.

Oh well, who was she kidding, this was Penny after all. Who wouldn’t be wrapped around her fingers?

Everything was going well, but stepped in the infamous Tony Stark.

Totally cool, great, wonderful. F*ck him.

She was so fucking mad that that man dared to take Penny to Germany, most likely after intimidating the girl. Penny had come back with f*cking black eye!! Felicia didn’t care what his reasons were, whatever he was involved in didn’t related to Penny nor her at all. The only thing that stopped Felicia from wrecking havocs at his Tower was the new suit that he had given her. It was undeniable that the suit provided a lot more safety features comparing to the girl’s old suit. And Penny had been quite happy to have a chance to fight along with her idol.

Well, she would let him off the hook this time, because Penny’s ramble about her trip to Germany was too adorable.

But with Tony Stark appearance, Felicia knew that she and the other vigilant would need to take a step back from Penny’s life. Tony Stark was Iron Man, a member of the Avengers team, the only group of people with special power that was acknowledged as superheroes worldwide. Having acquaintance with him was a chance for Penny to be recognized and accepted by the public for the good things she had done. Being vigilant like Felicia or Matt…would do no good for the girl.

The vigilant around New York, even if they were helping with keeping the criminals or underworld activities in check, were not welcomed by the public. They were called menaces. While Spider girl obviously had better reputation than most of them, Felicia wished that the girl would one day be acknowledged for the good deeds she had done by the people around the world, not only New York. And what can be better chance than Spider-girl joining the Avengers team?

So she and the others took a step back, continued their works as if they had never even met with Penny before. Sometimes the girl would actively seek out for some of them to talk or something, but those times decreased over time. They became more and more distant.

But that’s fine. Felicia owed the world at least a young, kind and full of potential girl when she decided to abandon her morals compass at the age of 15.

The last time Felicia met with Penny…before the blip, the girl had looked…happy. So happy that Felicia had to envy with the person that helped the girl to smile like that again.

So she was fucking pissed to find out that Penny had run away from home.

Felicia knew Penny better than the girl herself okay? She knew that the girl would never pull that kind of stunt over a stupid or childish reason, hence why she was damn certain that Stark or the others in the girl’s family had done something wrong. Like seriously wrong.

Penny was just too good, too kind and too selfless to the point that sometimes made Felicia worry out of her mind. She was so glad that Matt had found the girl, the kid had been wandering around on the street of New York in normal civilian clothes for an entire MONTH!!! That did not sit well with her, mind you, and when she finally got to talk to Penny, trying to know why the girl did that stunt, she could see how the teenager tried to hide her pained and sad expression. She was only one step away from going to the Tower to hunt Stark down for good.

Why did she blame Stark the most, you say? Because Felicia had entrusted that man with Penny and had to take a step back from the girl’s life, only for Penny to run away like this. She knew that Penny was still under Stark’s care with how many times the girl had gone to the Stark Tower, but even a fool could see that the number of those times had decreased drastically comparing to before the snap. Felicia only knew this after she heard about Penny’s missing case of course, because if she had known since before, she would have done something about it. And while she really understood that now Stark had gotten married and had a daughter of his own, it didn’t give him excuse to hurt Penny like that, unintended or not.

Felicia was also very disappointed, not only in Stark but also in herself. The main reason why she ever had the intention of walking out of Penny’s close circle was because she really believed that Stark was fitter than her in the whole “guiding a new hero” thing for obvious reasons. To her, a man who was willing to sacrifice himself as he flew a nuke into the wormhole to save the others and tried to fix his mistakes by shutting down his company’s weapons department was so much better than her, the one who stole from the others for her own benefits. And yeah, until now, he still was, he had saved the entire universe after all.

“So you are telling me that you are still hesitated because that man became the savior of the universe?”

That was what Jessica Jones had asked her during one of their outings at a bar in hell’s kitchen, after Matt found Penny and brought the girl back to his house.

As her fingers trailed on the glass of the small cup in front of her, Felicia sighed.

“Well, what do you expect me to feel? You know I’m a thief, have been for years now.”

“First, you haven’t been a thief for nearly six years now.” Jessica said, waved her cup at the bartender for another shot of tequila “Don’t think I don’t know it, your special activities had decreased dramatically ever since you met Penny, and you even went out for patrol in her place. Second, for your question, I expected you to be more confident about yourself. The Black Cat I knew isn’t like this, she is witty, smart, and always confident about herself.”

“Not about things like this though.” Felicia muttered as she gulped down her third tequila shot.

“Things like what?”

“Penny’s nature is a true hero. She is kind and always willing to risk her life for the others. I’m nowhere near that, not even a vigilante, if anything, I’m more like a villainess.”

“Since when did you start showing your insecurities like this, Felicia? Vigilante? I guess I’m qualified as a vigilante in your definition then. I, as a vigilante, declare that you are a vigilante as well.”

“Are you drunk?” Felicia asked as she looked around. Well, most would think that information like this should not be discuss in these kind of place, but this bar, it was special. This bar was where Felicia often came when she need to buy or collect special information, especially about the underworld, a perfect place to discuss your plan with your partners if you’re intending to assassinate the minister. But still, talking like this was a little risky.

“It’s only my third shot, you know I can’t get drunk that easy. Just tryin’ to lift the mood.”

Of course Felicia knew that as she looked at Jessica, who was then gulped down her fourth tequila shot. She sighed.

“Look, Jessica, you understand what I meant. You know that associating with us will never help Penny with Spider-girl’s reputation, especially me. And it’s not even only about the reputation problems either.”

“You are talking about guiding the kid with her special extracurricular activities.”

Jessica said, more like statement than a question. The dark haired woman leaned her face on her hand on the counter, head slightly tilted to the side as she looked at her friend, who stayed silent.

“You are going off topic right now, Felicia.” Jessica fed herself a spoonful of ceviche before continued talking, voice slightly muffled because of the food “From what you say, I have thought that what Penny needs right now is emotional support.”

“…That’s true.”

Felicia almost flinched as she felt Jessica’s intense gaze dig into her skull, she almost wanted to avoid having eye contact. Why the hell suddenly she was acting like a coward like this?

“Then, why don’t you just focus on that? Or you think you and your other acquaintances cannot help Penny, becoming her new supporting network at least temporarily and are going to kick her out?”

“I would never do that.”

Felicia said immediately. Never, not even in her wildest dream that she thought she could hurt Penny by kicking her out. That’s just crazy.

Jessica nodded “I know that. That why I said you are going off topic. Don’t think too much, just focus on being there for Penny in these times, when she needs you.”

Felicia drained her third shot of tequila in one gulp before weeping her mouth with her shirt sleeve. She put the shot glass down onto the counter a little too forcefully, creating a loud noise when the glass made contact with the wooden surface.

“Even so, I’m a fucked up Jessica. You are one the few people who really have glimpse at my past, you should know how much of a fucked up I am.”

Jessica took the glass of scotch from the bartender as she replied “Look, I know that you seek me for advice and assurance, but this won’t do. Right now, all I know and understand from this situation is that Penny must have gone through some serious shits and needs as much help as she can, but your insecure ass wouldn’t be able to do anything to help her if you continue to be like this.”

“…what should I do then?”

Felicia asked, folded her arms in front of her chest. Jessica gulped down half of the glass of scotch that she just received before answering.

“Think less, focus on your main task. Currently, your most urgent mission is to help Penny back to her feet, just do that. Stay there for her and make sure that she knows you will be by her side if she asked, be patient and don’t push her. It will work out in the end.”

“You made it sound so easy.”

“Maybe it is. But I’m not in your position to fully grasp your feelings right now, we all know that Penny and I were never that close.”

“You don’t plan to meet Penny?” Felicia asked but Jessica shook her head and smiled sadly.

“No, I don’t. I prefer to keep our distance like this, but I will help her if she need it. Currently, I’m involved in something too dangerous for her to handle. It should be quite a time until we meet again.”

That was the first time Felicia seeked out Jessica for some advices. The next time, it was the day after Penny confessed to her about what had happened and why she left her home.

“I can’t fucking believe it!! What the hell was they thinking?! Lying to her, forgetting about her and practically told her that she herself has mental problems???!”

Felicia slammed her third glass of whiskey against the table after chucking down the whole thing in one gulp.

“Well, to be fair here, they really did have some major problems with how they tried to deliver the news.”

Jessica said calmly as she finished drinking her whiskey. Felicia had been ranting for about more than 15 minutes since they started drinking, and Jessica knew that she must be the one who keep calm here, since obviously the white haired woman wasn’t going to be that person.

Felicia scoffed. “Yeah, their way of delivering the news was absolutely fabulous!”

Jones hummed in response as she sipped her drink. Felicia looked at her incredulously.

“That’s it? Just a “hmm”?? Did you hear what I have been talking about in the past few minutes?”

“I did.” Jessica said simply, lowering her glass down “I just want to know what exactly you are going to do now.”

“…” the other vigilante stared at her in silence before turned back to her cup, fidgeting with it “I can’t forgive those who have hurt Penny, even though they are her family.”

“Uh huh, that’s understandable.”

“I can’t stop thinking about what have happened with her that she might hasn’t told me. What she told me still sound so vague. What if she has been hurt more than what she has said? Why did I not reaching out for her after she came back? What could have been changed if I had? Why I wasn’t there when she need someone?”

Jessica stayed quiet for a minute. She looked at her friend? Comrade? Partner? Whatever Felicia was to Jessica didn’t really matter at that moment. Jessica saw the other woman’s disheveled state and sighed. She threw a manila envelope that she just took out from her handbag onto the table in front of them.

“This is what I have been able to find out after working with some people.” She said as the white haired opened the envelope and started looking through the papers inside them “How many times has Penny entered and exit the Stark Tower that was caught on camera, both in her normal civilian clothes and as Spider Girl, on which days, her expression upon entering or exiting the Stark Tower, where she often headed to after school or patrol…things like that. I have already wiped of all the trace from the camera and all the things that is related so her secrets are safe to us.”

Felicia opened then closed her mouth repeatedly several times before she finally turned back to Jones after looking up from the papers.

“How long have you been working on this? And how did you manage to get all this information??”

Jessica shrugged “Ever since you and I last talked about Penny, and as I have said before, I have my sources and beside, I’m a private investigator.”

“…thank you.”

“You are welcome. Let me help you point out a few main points in this report. About the number of times she has visited the Tower, especially before Tony Stark woke up, don’t ask me why I know when he woke up, practically plummet comparing to five years before. I think we all knew the reason, though.”

“They must have tried to prevent her from seeing Stark before he woke up.” Felicia mused “And what about after he woke up? How frequently did Penny visit the Tower?”

“There wasn’t any meeting up until the ninth day after that man woke up from his coma.” Jessica replied “She stayed there for about three and a half hours before going back to her aunt’s apartment. And the strange thing here, was the fact that after that she didn’t visit Stark at all after that for two weeks straight. She came back to the Tower the first time after that was at the day when all the Avengers gathered at the Tower.”

Jessica wet her mouth with a small gulp of whiskey as the white haired woman processed what she just said.

“I don’t really get it.”

“At first, I also didn’t either. But I got a few recordings and pictures, all of them have already been wiped clean from the original sources of course, which can explain why.” As she was saying, Jessica took out a small electronic device that has a screen on it “This one is a courtesy of a friend of mine, they can be trusted, so don’t worry.”

They watched as the screen lit up, showing the recording of Penny sitting on…a rooftop? Felicia couldn’t say for sure from the point of view of the recording. How the hell did Jones get this? She didn’t know, and at this point, she knew better than to question the other woman’s information resource, so she stayed silent as they watch the video.

At first, it seemed to Felicia that the kid was just chilling on the rooftop while surfing on the internet if the appearance of the laptop said anything, but as the recording was being sped up, the woman realized something was wrong. The quality of the sound in the recording was honest to God awful, but she could hear the muffled sobbing. The kid was crying. And between those choked sounds, Felicia could make out a few phrases and words.

“--my fault--” or “sorry” or “should be better”, things like that.

“What was she doing?”

Felicia asked, not exactly to Jessica but the other woman replied nevertheless.

“Several pictures of this have also been captured and cleared. Although we weren’t certain, but we guessed that Penny had been watching some kind of footage on her laptop. And coincidently, around the same time these videos were recorded, we found the reports of payment and a lots of footage of a group of famous physical therapists coming and leaving the Stark Tower.”

“Physical therapists…must have been Stark’s.”

Jessica nodded in confirmation.

“Yes. Stark must have been going through some kind of physical therapy, which is not surprising, considering how badly his injuries were.”

“So, this means…the recordings…”

“Although we don’t really have much concrete evident, I have my own suspect. It could be because they afraid that Penny would find out the true extension of Stark’s injuries and decided to hide it from her, which it why they didn’t let her go to the Tower because he was going through physical therapy. And the recordings…Penny must have found out about that, maybe she hacked into the system, but anyway, we could be pretty certain that she has found out more than they would have liked about Stark’s condition. It explained what she said in the footage that we just watched and fit perfectly with what she had told you.”

“My gosh…” Felicia buried her face into her hands, she was stunned at the reveal. “They must have expected that she would react badly to the news like that.”

“Yes,” Jessica took a small sip from her glass, her throat was a little dry after talking “but that proved to be a bad choice. They had undoubtedly underestimate Penny’s capability, which directly, or indirectly, led us to our current situation.”

Felicia mulled over her friend’s words, and then remembered what Penny had said to her.

“Penny had told me…she admitted that she felt like being excluded…”

“Now, I don’t think you should jump to the conclusion that fast. Yes, maybe this was one of the reasons why she felt left out, they intend to keep her in the dark after all. However,” Jones raised her voice a bit “I didn’t try to find all of this because I want to find some excuses to justify their actions. What I really want, actually, finish that glass of yours, I don’t want you to spit the alcohol out while I’m still talking.”

Felicia complied and took a large gulp from her glass, and only after that, Jessica continued her talking.

“Have you ever thought about involving even more in Penny’s personal life, I mean, not only things related to Spider-woman, but also her normal, civilian life?”

The white haired tilted her head to the side, clearly a bit confused.

“But I already have? I have been looking after her for a few months now.”

“No, what I mean is, after this, after she come back to them, because both of us know that she will?”

Just as Jessica expected, Felicia’s jaw dropped.

“Are you insane? Do you know who we are talking about? We are talking about Tony Stark, and the Avengers. The last time we met, we nearly ready to tear each other apart.”

“Well, yeah. I’m not insane or have gone crazy by any means, but, just think about it. We all know that you decided to step out of her life because Tony Stark appeared, you did it because you believed it was for her own good, but was it? Penny admitted that you are like a dear friend to her, and you care about that girl, more than you might want to admit, Felicia.” The white haired woman closed her mouth shut at that “Your decision, it wasn’t that beneficial. Because, well, both of us are aware of the fact that the kid needs more people in her life that she could rely on. Plus, you told me that the Black Widow informed Matt about Penny’s “possible insecurity issues” that we all know that it is very much real and concerning.”

Felicia stared at Jessica for an entire minute after her rant, eyes wide and tight lips.

“Still sounds pretty crazy to me, Jessica.” She finally said.

“We are vigilantes, Felicia. When did we ever be normal?”

And,…now Felicia was in the middle of a staring match in the top floor of the Stark Tower.

His wife, Pepper, was sitting beside him, along with the kid’s aunt, May, on the large and properly very expensive sofa. Behind him, was the Avengers team and the man’s bodyguard, they all looked guarded, tense.

On her side, she only had Matt, who wasn’t even sitting next to her, but instead, stood right behind her, with a hand put firmly on her shoulder. Still, it seemed like she wasn’t the one who was being intimidated.

To her surprise, Tony Stark didn’t seem that much of the self-centered guy that the media often portrayed. He seemed to be…much more quiet and lenient even with the rude comments that she was throwing at him. Maybe the search for the kid had worn him out, made he too tired to fight, or he was trying not to piss her off in case she was here because she had finally agreed to let them know where the kid was.

And the aunt…Felicia knew her from before through the kid. Penny couldn’t seem to stop her rambling, like, ever. She was always droning on and on about different topics, not that Felicia really mind, but from what Penny had told her, May had seemed like a wonderful woman. She wondered what this aunt of the kid could have done. Penny did tell her about why she had left, but had intentionally left out some details. For example, Penny did not say that she had been lied to about Stark’s condition, not until Felicia managed to make her slip up, and many things that the white haired woman knew about the situation was uncovered with the help of Jessica. She tried to dig up as much information as possible, because Penny said like it was all her faults, all because of her insecurities. And Felicia doubted that it was the case. May was pretty quiet, she was gaunt, and the empty look in her eyes was concerning.

“So, that’s my story, and now, I want to hear about your side. What exactly did you do to her?”

Felicia had said after she gave them a quick rundown about what had happened after they found Penny wandering on the street, because that was her purpose, the reason why she demand this meeting. She wanted to know their side of story, what exactly had happened that Penny didn’t say and Jessica couldn’t figure out. If they could be honest, which she would know, because, damn it, both Matt and her was expert at reading the moment when someone lie, and their reasons, their side of story…if Felicia could determine if they really deserve a second chance. Although she still hold a grudge against them, she still hope that they did, because Penny obviously still love them, and the kid need as many people in her corner as possible.

Aside from that, she came here because of the last talk with Jessica. The other woman’s idea sound so crazy, but after she thought about that, over and over again, she made her decision. Before she never thought about what would happen with her and Penny’s relationship after the kid come back to her family, would she step back again? She didn’t know, she had too much on her plate to pay any mind about that. But now, she knew that she would not be willing to stay away from Penny. And she would talk to these people, Penny’s family, about that. She didn’t want the kid to have to hide anything from the people that she cared about.

With Matt’s, and also Wilson’s support, Felicia held her head high through the entire talk.

This is for Penny.

As they came to somewhat an agreement, Felicia left the Tower in satisfaction. This agreement allowed her to officially be a part of Penny’s life even after the girl come back to her family, at this rate, there was no doubt thatthe girl would come back sooner or later. But Felicia didn’t have any intention to rush that process, even if Tony Stark could figure out where Penny was currently staying, she would stop him from making the girl come back if it was against the girl’s wills. 

Before, she had to force herself to stay away from Penny for the girl’s sake, but now, she could meet up with her frequently.

So when she had to rush Penny to the Tower that night, thing wasn’t good...and that might be the greatest understatement of the century. Just barely two hours after Felicia left the Tower, she received a phone call.

That phone call came from Penny’s roommate, who she had pretended to bumped into in a bakery to ask for a phone number to contact, just in case something happened to Penny. Felicia knew that troubles would always follow the girl no matter what she did, she just didn’t expected that to happen this early...and to this extend.

Helena Smith called her in hysterics, the girl was scared out of her mind because of her roommate.

“Penny wouldn’t wake up!” She had said through choked sobs “I tried to wake her up but she didn’t even stir! And her temperature is so high even though I have given her some fever reducer. Right now, she is at 104.4 Fahrenheit! I think we should get her to the hospital, do you want to drive her or should I call an ambulance now?”

That was more than enough to make Felicia immediately drive to ESU in panic. She wasn't calm enough so Matt had to tell Wade to take her place as a driver on their way to the college. As she was shaking in her seat, her boy friend gave her shoulder some gentle squeeze while whispering soothing words into her ears. By the time they arrived at ESU, Felicia was composed enough to not shove the woman who was waiting in front of the elevator out of her way. Helena was already waiting for them.

"I just took her temperature a few minutes ago, and I have already prepared some of the necessities like you have instructed." that instruction actually came from Matt since Felicia's head wasn't clear enough after she heard the first few sentences from Helena. The young girl kept talking as she led them to her room "She's at 104.8 Fahrenheit. Since the morning, I have only managed to make her drink a few sips of water and like half a bowl of chicken soup. She wasn't so bad this morning and even awake enough to insist that I should not take a day off in order to take care of her, but when I came back this afternoon, she was..."

Helena trailed off as she pushed the door open.

Penny was lying on her bed. Her face was white as sheet, her hair and her shirt was drenched with cold sweats. And she was so still, even as Felicia desperately trying to wake her up by calling her name and shaking her shoulder.

As Felicia started spiraling into panic, Matt calmly talked with Helena. The young girl answered every questions that Matt asked her and gave the man Penny's duffle bag filled with her necessity that she had prepared following Matt's instruction while they were still on their way here.

"I put in there her phone, her laptop, her smart watch. I also put two pair of comfortable clothes and her purse. Is that enough?"

Helena Smith asked and Matt nodded his head.

"That should be okay. Thank you for looking after Penny. Now, I afraid we would need to take Penny."

"Oh, of course."

Matt carried the girl outside while Felicia followed him with Penny's bag in her hands. Helen walked them to their car. As Penny was settled in the backseat with Felicia and they prepared to drive away, Penny's roommate said to them through the window.

"Tell her that I will copy the notes for her and send it to her by email. And can you please update her condition for me? And have her call me as soon as she wake up too?"

The girl asked nervously. She was obviously worried about Penny, such a good friend. From where she was stroking Penny's hair, Felicia replied to her.

"Of course. I will tell you if there is anything change. You can call me if you want, you have my phone number."

Helena nodded and she stood there as they pulled into the drive way.

That was three hours ago. 

Penny was now laid inside the bathtub of Matt's house which was filled with lukewarm water in her pj's with Felicia sat on the edge of it, a hand holding a cool washcloth against the kid's forehead. Matt stepped in with a thermometer in one hand and Penny's phone in the other.

"The kid's AI said we should take her temperature again."

Felicia simply nodded. They have been following the AI, Karen? To treat Penny's fever. They didn't know much about her biology so the AI had offered them some help.

The kid's temperature didn't spike up but also didn't lower either. 

"Karen had told us from before that if her fever didn't improve, we should take her to the Stark Tower." Matt said quietly as Felicia bit her lips. "Your call, Felicia."

The white haired woman buried her face into her hand and said after a moment,

"Please give me my phone."

As Matt went to fetch her phone, Felicia turned back to the kid, who was still unconscious. When her boyfriend came back with her phone, Felicia only hesitate for around two seconds before she pressed the call button on Stark contact.

The man picked up on the first ring, no surprise here.

"Stark, prepare the medbay. It's Penny."

The billionaire was already waiting for them in the garage with Steve Rogers and his bodyguard, Hogan. They was instructed to drive into the secret entrance led into his personal garage.

The moment the car stopped, Felicia immediately opened the door. She helped Stark and Rogers get Penny out of the car. The super soldier easily lifted the kid up and all of them got into the elevator.

"We are going straight to the medbay."

Stark said, his eyes never leave the kid's limp body, his face was pale, eyes filled with worries. Felicia guessed that if it wasn't because his body was still weak, he would have carried Penny by himself.

As soon as the elevator was opened, a team of nurses and doctors was already waiting for them with a wheel bed and IV and...and other stuffs. Felicia was worried out of her mind to actually pay any attention to what's happening around her. They wheeled the kid away immediately, Felicia and the others followed them until they were stopped in front of the emergency room. A woman with black hair tied in a tight bun greeted her, she seemed to be a doctor.

"I'm doctor Helen Cho, I'm assigned to take care of Penny. Now, while you have given us the details about her condition, I still need to check something. Do you have the fever reducer pills that you have given to Penny with you?"

"O-Oh, wait a moment...It's here." Felicia took the bottle of the pills out of her pocket after fumbling a bit. As Dr. Cho examined the bottle, Felicia added "It's the same type as the one her roommate gave her. Her AI said it's the right type because it was designed for her fast metabolism."

Dr. Cho didn't say anything for a moment before she looked up and exchanged a look with Tony.

"It's the right type."

The doctor said and Felicia saw the billionaire covered his mouth with his hand. The action only made Felicia's stomach churning with even more worries.

"I will do everything I can, so stay calm, okay?"

Dr. Helen Cho told them, mostly Stark, before walking into the emergency room, where Penny had been wheeled into.

Felicia sat down heavily into one of the plastic chairs in front of the emergency room, feeling more helpless than ever. She tuned everything out even as Stark's bodyguard, Head of Security, whatever he was, mumbled out a small "I will go call May" as he left.

Penny was still fine the last time Felicia saw her. What was happening?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry guys, I knew I promised I would post new chapter before Christmas, but I have been at the hospital. Turn out, those minor chest pains that I ignored was more serious than I thought. I'm fine now, pretty much, after a surgery. The second one failed but the doctor said it would be fine.  
> We are in lock down again and also welcoming Lunar New Year, so I have some little spare time to finish this chapter. I made a few adjustment. It was too long so I had to cut the conversation between Felicia and the Starks.  
> I'm in the last year of high school so I'm very busy preparing for the exams, I would be lucky if I can post another chapter soon.  
> I hope you like it, I didn't really edit this chapter, I'm still a bit tired.
> 
> Please comment to let me know what you think, your comments are like energy boost. Kudos are also very appreciated.  
> See you again <3


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